Chronic pain

This Université de Montréal Hospital Centre health fact sheet focuses on the different types of short-acting opioids available on the pharmaceutical market. It explains how to take these medications, the length of treatment as well as the main rules to follow for their safe and optimal use. The main side effects are also listed along with advice on how to deal with them.

This Université de Montréal Hospital Centre health fact sheet focuses on long-acting opioids available on the pharmaceutical market. It covers the same topics as the health fact sheet on short-acting opioids: how to take the medication, length of treatment, rules for safe and optimal use as well as recommendations about side effects.

A reference for users

This reference book, developed by the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, describes, in chapters, the different types of pain, the types and actions of opioids, how to use them and, in the appendices, the different aspects of pain, its impact on daily life and the risk of overdose associated with opioid use. With its many diagrams and tables, this book is a useful tool for discussion between physician and patient. My Opioid Manager is also available as a mobile app, My Opioid Manager (MyOM) App.

The Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) is a self-administered questionnaire that assesses the main dimensions of pain, i.e., severity, functional impairment, impact on social and family life as well as level of psychological distress.

The DN4 Questionnaire is used to assess the probability that the patient’s pain is neuropathic. The questionnaire is completed by the physician who is questioning or examining the patient. ;

The Opioid Manager is a tool that contains essential information and advice from the Canadian Guideline for Safe and Effective Use of Opioids for Chronic Non-Cancer Pain. To download the Opioid Manager, registration is required.

The Prescribed Opioids Difficulties Scale (PODS) is used to identify patients’ problems and concerns with their opioid therapy.

The McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) is used to assess the quality of chronic pain, particularly neuropathic pain.

Intended for nurses, this article provides information about self-assessment and proxy assessment tools, their appropriateness depending on the older person’s cognitive abilities and principles for their use. It includes the French version of the Pain Assessment Checklist for Seniors with Limited Ability to Communicate (PACSLAC-F^© ).