“There are many patients who suffer from chronic pain in Italy. Until recently we did not have precise epidemiological data. Reference was made to European studies, still dating back to 2016, which estimated a fairly significant prevalence, around 10-15%” . According to “the recent epidemiological data that we have acquired in recent months, with the Censis report”, there are “9.8 million Italian adult inhabitants who suffer from moderate to severe pain, with a prevalence of around 19.7%. But the data, in other cases, report an even higher prevalence. So we are talking about 12-13 million Italian inhabitants suffering from chronic pain”. This was stated by Alessia Violini, scientific director of the 23rd Congress of the Pain Cultural Area (ACD) and head of the Italian Society of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care (Siaarti) of the Cultural Area of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care, on the occasion of the opening of the scientific event.
“Certainly taking care of patients with chronic pain represents a crucial and important issue – continues Violini – because these patients must be intercepted”, but also because the “citizens themselves are not aware of the existence of pain therapy centers that they can take charge of their pathology. Pain must have an appropriate clinical path for the patient, which takes him by the hand and leads him to obtain a satisfactory benefit on pain and which allows him to rehabilitate his social life and working life”.
The current regulations “already define the human resources to be dedicated to pain therapy centers – underlines the specialist – These resources are not always easily available as anesthetists and resuscitators are still in small numbers today and, even more limited, it is the number of anesthetists and resuscitators who have specific training in pain medicine. This is why Siaarti has a very important role regarding training and continuous updating. Looking to the future, to the role of artificial intelligence, Violini observes: “We can think of an important role in the field of pain, especially regarding the predictivity that artificial intelligence can help us achieve, in particular, in persistent and chronic pain “. Also for this reason, concludes the expert, it is “necessary to open up the possibilities of collaboration between doctors, specialists in pain medicine and engineers or artificial intelligence experts who can help us create those algorithms that can certainly also guide our therapeutic choices in in order to achieve a more ‘Taylorised’ therapy, therefore tailored to the patient.
