CJEM
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Patients with chronic pain account for 12-20% of total emergency department (ED) and was the primary presenting concern among 37% of patients who visited the ED > 12 times per year. Despite this, emergency physicians receive little focused training managing these patients, and there is a paucity of effective referral pathways from EDs, despite strong evidence that chronic pain is best treated longitudinally in multidisciplinary clinics. This study sought to explore the practices, perspectives, and recommendations of current Canadians emergency physicians in better serving the chronic pain patient (CPP) population in the ED. ⋯ There is a clear need to increase the accessibility to outpatient pain medicine clinics for chronic pain patients presenting to the ED. ED and pain medicine providers must collaborate to establish mutually beneficial referral pathways from EDs, and to advocate for increased funding for rapid access outpatient pain clinics.