Journal of pain & palliative care pharmacotherapy
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Mar 2013
Personalized medicine--one size fits one: tailoring pain therapy to individuals' needs.
Personalized medicine can be defined as the tailoring of therapies to defined subsets of patients based on their likelihood to respond to therapy or their risk of adverse events. This medical model is more established in oncology but personalized pain therapy is showing potential promise. ⋯ Research using quantitative sensory testing is seeking to identify phenotypic subgroups of neuropathic pain patients with different underlying pain mechanisms. Imaging studies have suggested that genetic, environmental, mood, and injury-specific factors combine to produce a unique cerebral pain "signature." The search for central nervous system (CNS) biomarkers for chronic pain is ongoing.