intractable pain


in·trac·ta·ble pain

pain resistant or refractory to ordinary analgesic agents.

intractable pain

Refractory pain Pain medicine Persistent pain which does not respond to at least 3 dosease of parenteral analgesics given over a 12-24 hr period; pain that does not respond to appropriate doses of opioid analgesics.

intractable pain

Chronic pain that is difficult or impossible to manage with standard interventions. Common causes include metastatic cancer, chronic pancreatitis, radiculopathy, spinal cord transection, or peripheral neuropathy. Intractable pain may also accompany somatoform disorders, depression, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, and opiate dependence. Various combinations of the following management strategies are often used to treat intractable pain: antidepressant medications, counseling, deep brain stimulation, injected anesthetics, narcotic analgesics, neurological surgery, and pain clinic consultations. See also: pain