Category: Pain

An accurate and reliable assessment of the patient’s condition is crucial in achieving a fair outcome in medicolegal cases involving chronic pain. While assessment of acute pain is relatively straightforward, measurement of chronic pain, and the effect it has on the patient’s day-to-day life, is more difficult. Pain assessment is particularly challenging in patients who […]

In this second article related to pelvic mesh implants, Dr Ivan Ramos-Galvez, discusses the physical and psychological issues that can arise following surgery for pelvic mesh implants. In his first article on the topic Dr Ramos-Galvez explored the medicolegal challenges of pelvic mesh surgery. Since their development, pelvic mesh implants have become the standard treatment […]

Chronic pain is associated with decreased function and also affects the patient’s emotional wellbeing and quality of life. Unlike acute pain, chronic pain often does not have an obvious physiologic cause and this can make effective treatment difficult. The first-choice treatment for chronic pain is usually pharmaceutical in nature and often consists of opioid therapy, […]

In this article, the first in our series of two on pelvic mesh and its medicolegal challenges, Dr Ivan Ramos-Galvez, Consultant in Pain Medicine and expert witness, explores the uses of pelvic mesh and the complications that can arise. The second in the series focuses on the physical and psychological effects pelvic mesh implants can […]

Pain is the body’s warning system: it tells us that we have sustained an injury and need to heal. In most people, pain is a transient phenomenon, lasting only until the healing process is complete. However, some individuals report pain lasting for weeks, months or even years after the initial injury or accident. This can […]

Is it possible to distinguish between a patient suffering from post-traumatic Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and a patient suffering from long Covid? There is a considerable overlap in symptoms between these two conditions, which would make a definite diagnosis hard to establish. Furthermore, the current understanding of long COVID is limited as it is such […]

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic condition, characterised by widespread deep musculoskeletal pain accompanied by various other non-specific symptoms, including chronic fatigue, sleep and mood disturbances and cognitive problems (1–5). The condition is relatively common, occurring in around 2–8% of the adult population (2–6) and is much more common in women than in men (1,2,4). For […]

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines describe long COVID as ‘signs and symptoms that develop during or following an infection consistent with COVID-19 and which continue for more than four weeks and are not explained by an alternative diagnosis.’ After 12 weeks, NICE recommends using the term ‘post-COVID syndrome’ to describe […]

Whiplash injuries are a common occurrence after rear-end collisions between two vehicles. As the front car is struck, the sudden change in speed as a result of the impact of the crash causes the torsos of the driver and passengers to be thrown forwards. However, their heads lag behind, which causes their necks to be […]

The definition of pain, as ‘an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage’ (1) recognises that the phenomenon is more than just a physical event. Indeed, when we talk of someone ‘suffering’ from pain, we are predominately referring to the emotional experience (2). Pain is […]

Until recently, evidence in medicolegal cases was collected from physical sources, such as patients’ medical histories, witness statements and expert witnesses. Technological advances mean that other sources of evidence, including social media, CCTV monitoring and GPS tracking, are now available. Many personal injury cases involve insurance companies, who are likely to use these methods of […]

Not only is back pain the commonest reason for a GP consultation, it has a significant socioeconomic impact too. It has been estimated that between 60% and 80% of UK inhabitants will suffer from the condition at some point during their lifetime, and that at any one time up to one-third of adults will be […]