Page 6 Acute Pain Management

INTRODUCTION

This is the third edition of the document Acute Pain Management: Scientific Evidence. The first
INTRODUCTION edition was written by a multidisciplinary committee headed by Professor Michael Cousins and
published by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia in 1999.
The second edition was written by multiple contributors and a working party chaired by Assoc
Prof Pam Macintyre. It was approved by the NHMRC and published by the Australian and New
Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) and its Faculty of Pain Medicine (FPM) in 2005. It
was also endorsed by a number of major organisations — the International Association for the
Study of Pain (IASP), the Royal College of Anaesthetists (United Kingdom), the Australasian
Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, the Royal
Australasian College of Surgeons, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of
Psychiatrists and the Australian Pain Society — and recommended to its members by the
American Academy of Pain Medicine.
After publication, a companion document for consumers — Managing Acute Pain: a Guide for
Patients — was prepared and approved by the NHMRC (ANZCA & FPM 2005).
In accord with NHMRC requirements that documents such as these be revised as further
evidence accumulates, and as there had been an ongoing and substantial increase in the
quantity and quality of information available about acute pain management, it was seen as
timely to reassess the available evidence. ANZCA and the FPM therefore again took
responsibility for revising and updating the document — this third edition. As with the second
edition, this third edition has been endorsed by a number of key professional organisations
(see list on the title page). It was also approved by the NHMRC on 4th February 2010, under
section 14A of the National Health and Medical Research Council Act 1992.
A working party was convened to coordinate and oversee the development process. An
editorial subgroup of the working party (Assoc Prof Pam Macintyre, Prof Stephan Schug, Assoc
Prof David Scott, Dr Eric Visser and Dr Suellen Walker) coordinated the development process
and edited and/or wrote the sections. The working party also included Dr Douglas Justins,
Dean of the Faculty of Pain Medicine, Royal College of Anaesthetists in the United Kingdom,
and Prof Karen Grimmer‐Somers from the University of South Australia, who was the NHMRC‐
appointed Guidelines Assessment Register representative for the second edition and provided
expert advice on the use of evidence‐based findings and the application of NHMRC criteria for
this edition.
A large panel of contributors was appointed to draft sections of the document and a
multidisciplinary consultative committee was chosen to review the early drafts of the
document and contribute more broadly as required. To ensure general applicability and
inclusiveness, there was a very wide range of experts on the contributor and multidisciplinary
committee, including medical, nursing, allied health and complementary medicine clinicians
and a consumer. Comments on the document were also invited during a public consultation
period. Details of the processes involved are outline in Appendix B, Process Report.
Acute Pain Management: Scientific Evidence covers a wide range of clinical topics. The purpose
of the document is, as with the first two editions, to combine a review of the best available
evidence for acute pain management with current clinical and expert practice, rather than to
formulate specific clinical practice recommendations. Accordingly, the document aims to
summarise the substantial amount of evidence currently available for the management of
acute pain in a concise and easily readable form to assist the practising clinician. New and

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