Pain prevention: what is in the pipeline?

Approximately 10% of the German population report chronic pain that has at least a moderate influence on everyday life. For instance, patients in Germany often experience an oversupply of diagnostics and therapy when suffering from mild back pain, while the care of patients with severe, chronic pain remains insufficient. Multimodal and interdisciplinary therapies are generally too seldomly used. Potentially preventive procedures are insufficiently investigated and used in current clinical practice and little is known about the mechanisms underlying chronification processes. In Germany, pain is still largely neglected in current clinical and basic science, as well as research funding. Furthermore, existing projects are often insufficiently connected with each other, thereby missing the unique opportunity of building synergies. To improve medical pain care and to enable participation in activities of daily life with the maximum radius, interdisciplinary clinical programs and cross-linking of basic and clinical research is necessary. The main objectives are to: (1) Strengthen basic research to investigate the underlying mechanisms of pain development and maintenance as well as of chronification processes; (2) improve patient care by adequate application of diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive procedures; (3) consolidate interdisciplinarity in pain research and patient care; (4) maintain participation of patients in social and in everyday life; and (5) achieve and maintain high quality standards in pain patient care. The following article provides an overview of the measures and advances currently being taken in pain research in Germany to close the above-mentioned gaps. The focus lies on current and future developments in the field of pain prevention.