Category: Pain

In the context of clinical medicine, bias is the predisposition to form premature or undue impressions that are not based on the actual data to hand. Hindsight bias refers to the tendency to exaggerate one’s own ability to predict the inevitability of an outcome once that outcome is already known.

Current treatment options for chronic pain are limited in terms of their efficacy, particularly over the long term. Recent research indicates that neuromodulation, including spinal cord stimulation, may offer genuine hope to patients with chronic neuropathic pain.

Primary pain is defined as pain that occurs in the absence of, or is disproportionate to, any clearly defined injury or underlying condition. It is deemed chronic when it persists for three months or more.

As settlement is often reached before recovery is complete, predicting the patient’s prognosis and likely degree of disability, if any, become crucial: the claimant should be fairly compensated for any injuries suffered, but the defendant should not be required to pay out an unnecessarily high amount.

There are several definitions of malingering, but in essence, it is the deliberate and fraudulent feigning or exaggeration of the symptoms of illness or injury for an external benefit. It differs from factitious disorder, where the benefit to the patient is the satisfaction of an internal psychological need.

The incidence of chronic post-surgical pain (CPSP) varies widely, depending on the type of surgery, the patient population and the definition used, but between 5% and 85% of all surgical patients will experience it in some form

Joint pain may be either acute or chronic. Acute joint pain arises from infection, trauma, autoimmune and inflammatory processes, whilst chronic joint pain most commonly arises due to arthritis.

If it can be demonstrated that a claimant contributed in some way to their own injuries, this may offer a partial defence. This is important, because if such ‘contributory negligence’ can be proved, the defendant’s liability for compensation will be reduced accordingly.

One of the most commonly used spinal intervention technique is facet joint injection. This is used to both diagnose and manage facet joint pain. Pain in these joints is extremely common and may account for around half of all cases of neck, thoracic and lower back pain.

A complete medical record may include a variety of documentation pertaining to the patient’s condition and care. Clinical findings, diagnostic test results, preoperative care, surgical notes, postoperative care, and the patient’s progress and medications may all form part of the medical history.

The first step in preparing a medicolegal report is to examine the events surrounding the alleged incident. This will help to identify any inconsistencies, particularly in the chronology of events, in the records and can be especially important if the claimant has visited several different doctors for diagnosis or treatment.

In neuropathic pain, the perceived pain is spontaneous and manifests without any outside stimulus. The aetiology of neuropathic pain varies widely, and includes injuries and lesions to the brain and spinal cord, peripheral neuropathy arising from diabetes mellitus or as a result of chemotherapy due to cancer, trigeminal neuralgia, peripheral nerve injury, and post-stroke pain