• R Prönneke and H Jablonowski.
• Innere Medizin und Palliativmedizin Medizinische Klinik, Klinikum Salzgitter GmbH. med.leb@klinikum-salzgitter.de
• MMW Fortschr Med. 2005 Jun 2;147(22):27-30.

AbstractRigorous and appropriate pain therapy is a major element in palliative medicine, and affords the patient the possibility of being better able to organize the remaining time left to him. Every person has a legal right to, receive appropriate treatment for his/her pain, which in advanced disease states, is a multidimensional condition. This means that in addition to nursing staff and physicians, spiritual counselors, social workers, physiotherapists and volunteer helpers must be included in the pain-management team. Despite all our efforts, the ideal of complete freedom from pain is unrealistic. Nevertheless, the simple expression of solidarity with the terminally-ill patient, as is reflected by the provision of sympathetic attention, has in itself a positive impact on pain. By offering comprehensive and nationwide palliative care that is oriented to the needs of the terminal patient, society helps to provide a culture of the dying, and thus also of the living, that reflects humanistic principles.

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