Principles of pain management
Over 20 years ago, the World Health Organization developed a novel 3-step ladder for clinicians to approach chronic pain management in cancer.5
Its use has been extended to support the management of chronic non-cancer pain as well.
The WHO 3-step ladder is more than two decades old and as data emerges, it is clear that it is still not always effectively implemented. Further models that use a simplified 2-step process have been proposed.6
It is important to distinguish between neuropathic and nociceptive pain as treatment strategies offer differ.2