On May 25, the Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee (IPRCC) and the Office of Pain Policy of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
released draft Federal Pain Research Priorities, which were presented and discussed at a forum and public comment period on June 1. The forum immediately followed the
Annual NIH Pain Consortium Symposium, where presentations highlighted multidisciplinary strategies for the management of pain. Following the open public comment period, written comments will be accepted until June 6.
The Federal Pain Research Strategy (FPRS) is an effort to oversee development of a long-term strategic plan for pain research. This is especially important, as most analgesics and anesthetics are used, despite known side effects and no new pharmacologic treatments for pain have emerged in recent years. The draft priorities acknowledge this and encompass this as one of the priorities, stating, “Given the adverse effects, risks of tolerance, dependence, and addiction, associated with opioids, new safer and more effective pharmacologic and non‐pharmacologic approaches for pain management are needed.” ASA is pleased to see this as a focus, as chronic pain effects millions of Americans and the ongoing struggle to address the opioid epidemic persists.
The
draft research priorities are a culmination of a diverse and balanced group of scientific experts, patient advocates, and federal representatives working together for nearly two years to identify and prioritize research recommendations. The process included a steering committee to report back to the broader IPRCC and five workgroups based around the continuum of pain: prevention of acute and chronic and pain; acute pain and acute pain management; transition from acute to chronic pain; chronic pain and chronic pain management; and disparities. The workgroups identified research priorities within their respective areas and together, in the areas where there was overlap, developed cross-cutting research priorities to incorporate their recommendations.
ASA members Steve Cohen, M.D. and David Clark, M.D. were part of the chronic pain and chronic pain management workgroup and were involved in developing research priorities to answer questions about the gaps in understanding around the mechanisms of chronic pain, effective treatments and self-management strategies.
The cross-cutting research priorities fall into these broader areas of research:
- Novel drugs and non-pharmacological treatments for pain
- Screening tools and outcome measures for assessments across the continuum of pain
- National registries, datasets and research networks
- Effective models of care delivery for pain management
- Precision medicine methodology to prevent and treat pain
After the public comment period, the IPRCC will take into consideration the feedback received and later release the final priorities. During the forum, it was also shared that the steering committee and workgroups are already in the process of modifying the section on disparities to incorporate more recommendations. Further steps will entail implementation of the research priorities.
ASA looks forward to opportunities for members to participate in carrying out these research priorities.
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