The official definition of pain is "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage" (International Association of Pain). The management of pain has always been a real challenge for health care professionals. Standards have been made for the different types of pain treatment, but for every patient the therapy must be individualised. Pain in oncology patients is different from post-operative pain or rheumatic pain. The assessment of pain is still a subject for research. Visual analog scales are considered as the gold standard, but other methods like EEG measurements and functional neuroimaging are being investigated now. The ultimate goal of a good pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic model for pain has not yet been reached. The different treatment options also require pharmaceutical skills. Compounding problems, formulation challenges and the reconstitution of cocktails are not only subject to research, but are also part of the daily challenges for hospital pharmacists. These options will be discussed during this seminar. Also, the management in special patient groups will be subject for discussion: how to treat pain in neonates, small children or the elderly.

Teaching Goals:

• inform participants about different type of pain
• inform participants how different types of pain should be treated
• learn to individualise pain therapy
• learn how to manage compounding problems of anti-pain medication

Learning Objectives:

After the presentation the participant should:

• know the pathology of (different types of) pain
• know how to individualise pain treatment
• know the principle of drug rotation of opioids