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Chronic pain (primary and secondary) in over 16s: assessment of all chronic pain and management of chronic primary pain - NICE guideline

This guideline covers assessing all chronic pain (chronic primary pain, chronic secondary pain, or both) and managing chronic primary pain in people aged 16 years and over. Chronic primary pain is pain with no clear underlying cause, or pain (or its impact) that is out of proportion to any observable injury or disease.

The recommendations in this guideline were developed before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recommendations

This guideline includes recommendations on:

Who is it for?

  • Healthcare professionals
  • Commissioners and providers of services
  • People with chronic primary pain and chronic secondary pain, their families and carers