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,¶
* From the Department of Anesthesia, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal;
the Pain Clinic, Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont;
Research Centre, Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal;
the Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, and
¶ Research Centre, Montréal Heart Institute, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Address correspondence to: Dr. Manon Choinière, Institut de Cardiologie de Montréal, Centre de Recherche - Secteur Roulottes, Bureau R2231, 5000 Bélanger, Montréal, Québec H1T 1C8, Canada. Phone: 514-376-3330, ext. 2042; Fax: 514-593-2160; E-mail: manon.choiniere{at}icm-mhi.org
Purpose: Little or no information exists on the services that are currently available for the treatment of chronic pain across the different regions of Canada. As a first step, this study documented the hospital-based resources and services offered for the management of chronic non-cancer pain within anesthesia departments in Québec.
Methods: In collaboration with the Association of Anesthesiologists of Québec and the Société québécoise de la douleur, a provincial survey was conducted to assess the availability of services for chronic pain management within hospital-based anesthesia departments along with the volume of clinical activities, staff composition, treatments offered and space facilities.
Results: The response rate was 100%. Fifty of the 69 departments (73%) offered services for the management of chronic non-cancer pain but the services were often limited. Twenty-six percent (13/50) of the departments provided some form of multidisciplinary assessment and treatment but only three had a core team comprised of an anesthesiologist, a nurse, a psychologist, and a physical therapist. Examination of patient waiting lists of the surveyed departments revealed disturbing results: approximately 4,500 patients were waiting for their first appointment to see a pain consultant, and nearly 3,000 (67%) had been waiting for nine months or more.
Conclusion: Although this survey did not include the services offered in departments other than anesthesia, the results show the extent to which the province of Québec is under-resourced for the management of chronic pain patients both in terms of access to treatment and quality of the services offered.
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P. Peng, M. Choiniere, D. Dion, H. Intrater, S. LeFort, M. Lynch, M. Ong, S. Rashiq, G. Tkachuk, Y. Veillette, et al. Challenges in accessing multidisciplinary pain treatment facilities in Canada: [Les defis de l'acces aux etablissements pluridisciplinaires de traitement de la douleur au Canada] Can J Anesth, December 1, 2007; 54(12): 977 - 984. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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P. Peng, J. N. Stinson, M. Choiniere, D. Dion, H. Intrater, S. LeFort, M. Lynch, M. Ong, S. Rashiq, G. Tkachuk, et al. Dedicated multidisciplinary pain management centres for children in Canada: the current status: [Les centres pluridisciplinaires de prise en charge de la douleur consacres aux enfants au Canada : etat actuel] Can J Anesth, December 1, 2007; 54(12): 985 - 991. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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P. Morley-Forster Addressing physician resources for chronic pain management Can J Anesth, December 1, 2005; 52(10): 1103 - 1103. [Full Text] [PDF]
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