Background
In order to understand more about
pain presentations in primary care, the
authors undertook a descriptive study on
musculoskeletal pain presentations to a
general practice with a special interest in
musculoskeletal medicine.
The aim was to describe and categorise
musculoskeletal pain presentations into
pain subtypes.
Discussion
Differentiating pain types is important
in pain management. Neuropathic and
somatic referred pain are common
presentations to primary practice but
may be difficult to detect. Data on pain
presentation subtypes in primary practice
is important to inform medical educators
and research organisations and instruct
future planning for primary care.
Results
Patients were predominantly female
with chronic pain problems. Somatic
low back pain was the commonest pain
presentation. Neuropathic pain was a
feature of 25% of cases, with pure somatic
referred pain presenting in 1 in 7 cases.
Nearly half of the patients were referred by
their usual general practitioner.
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