In 1931, the French medical missionary Dr Albert Schweitzer wrote, “Pain is a more terrible lord of mankind than even death itself”. Seventy years on, chronic pain sufferers cannot agree more with this statement, while clamouring for help from family physicians and specialists, and even ‘therapists’ who promise to...

Some of our patients with pathologic pain reported that when groping for the light switch in a dark room, they often misjudge its location even though they seem to be able to visualise the surrounding space accurately in other situations in their daily life. This phenomenon led us to...

Population studies on pain prevalence are useful in determining the impact that chronic pain has on the society. It draws the attention of healthcare administrators to chronic pain as a problem and direct healthcare spending accordingly. Previous studies performed using variations in definitions and methodology, yielded rates between 10%...

Pain is prevalent in cancer patients. It is a major impediment to an adequate quality of life and may undermine efforts to assess and treat the underlying disease.1 Approximately 75% to 90% of cancer-related pain syndromes can be controlled using the 3-step ladder approach guidelines established by the World...

Oral opioids have been increasingly used for treatment of both cancer and non-cancer pain.1-4 Oxycodone is a synthetic opioid that has become recently available locally. Elsewhere in the world, its widespread use has been associated with dependence and problematic drug related behaviour.5-8 Appropriate prescription will be essential to avert...