NICE: Chronic pain (primary and secondary) in over 16s: assessment of all chronic pain and management of chronic primary pain (7 April 2021)

Summary

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guideline covers assessing all chronic pain (chronic primary pain, chronic secondary pain, or both) and managing chronic primary pain in people aged 16 years and over. Chronic primary pain is pain with no clear underlying cause or pain (or its impact) that is out of proportion to any observable injury or disease.

Download the full guidance from link below or click on the image for a visual summary. We have also included links to supporting evidence and to useful tools and resources.

Content

Visual summary

Supporting evidence

Economic analysis 

Acupuncture in people with chronic primary pain 

Exercise in people with chronic primary pain 

Evidence review

A: Factors that may be barriers to successfully managing chronic pain (chronic primary pain and chronic secondary pain) 

B: Communication between healthcare professionals and people with chronic pain (chronic primary pain and chronic secondary pain)  

C: Pain management programmes for chronic pain (chronic primary pain and chronic secondary pain) 

D: Social interventions for chronic pain (chronic primary pain and chronic secondary pain) PDF 927.64 KB07 April 2021  

E: Exercise for chronic primary pain 

F: Psychological therapy for chronic primary pain 

G: Acupuncture for chronic primary pain  

H: Electrical physical modalities for chronic primary pain 

I: Manual therapy for chronic primary pain 

J: Pharmacological management for chronic primary pain 

Tools and resources

About the Into practice guide

Impact on NHS workforce and resources

Resource impact report

Resource impact template

Baseline assessment tool

Practical steps to improving the quality of care and services using NICE guidance