"The main reason why a patient comes to a healthcare center is pain. Adequate training in pain is necessary to be able to detect it correctly, diagnose it and, of course, treat it," stresses Dr. Carlos Tornero, director of the chair focused on pain set up by the Vithas Foundation and the Francisco de Vitoria University.
Physical pain, but also mental pain, is one of the realities that every person has to live with in one way or another. As Dr. Tornero points out to Omnes: "the chair was born from the desire to deepen the knowledge of pain both from the point of view of basic and applied research and also in relation to the dissemination and training of healthcare professionals who will have to attend to patients with pain in their professional careers". The director of this new chair considers that "adequate training in pain is necessary in order to be able to detect it correctly, diagnose it and, of course, treat it".
To make a decision you need to be informed
Research into pain is key in a society in which the average age is over 40 and in which nearly 17.5 million people (four out of every 10) live with pain in our country. "Pain can be understood as a response to an external aggression, but it is also a disease in itself". For this reason, in the face of laws such as the recently approved Euthanasia Law in Spain, which includes among its assumptions that a person considers it impossible to live without a specific pathology, Dr. Tornero stresses the imperative need to "explain that there are solutions for pain. Of course, individual freedom prevails, but information is needed on the options we can offer patients who suffer so much every day".
Pandemic and pain
Since March 2020, in Europe, according to WHO data, anxiety and stress levels have increased exponentially. Around a third of adult adults report levels of distress derived from months of confinement. For Dr. Tornero "it is really hard to see how this pandemic has affected many patients. We are experiencing situations in our pain units that are really hard because a fundamental issue for the improvement of musculoskeletal pain, which is the main cause of pain, is movement, activity... And confinement has greatly limited them. Now patients come to us with a worsening quality of life. However, with the support of multidisciplinary pain units that include interventional pain physicians, psychologists, physiotherapists, nutritionists and pharmacists, great improvements in the quality of life of patients are achieved".
The chair of pain
The Chair, promoted by the Vithas Foundation and the Francisco de Vitoria University, will encourage studies in both acute and chronic pain, favoring clinical trials focused on the comprehensive treatment of pain. Likewise, the dissemination and knowledge of the research carried out will be promoted through publications and other communication actions. A dissemination effort that Dr. Tornero describes as important because it is necessary "for everyone to know that there are solutions to pain, which not only involve pharmacology but also take into account interventional pain techniques, the psychological component and the social aspect".
