Pain medicine

Editors: Predrag Stevanović, Dejan Nešić and Nebojša Lađević
Publisher: CIBID, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, 2020
ISBN 978-86-7117-598-2

“Sedare dolorem divinum opus est!”
(“Divine is the work to subdue pain!”)
Latin proverb

Authors: Atanasijević Igor, MD, Bjegović - Mikanović Vesna, Full Professor, Basta Ivana, Assistant Professor, Budić Ivana, Associate Professor, Čejović Sonja, MA in Medical Sciences, Čovičković-Šternić Nadežda, Full Professor, Damjanov Nemanja, Full Professor, De Luka Silvio, Associate Professor, Dokmanović Lidija, Associate Professor, Đorđević Olivera, Assistant Professor, Đukić Nenad, MD, Ilić - Mostić Tatjana, Adjunct Professor, Isaković Aleksandra, Full Professor, Jovanović Dragana, Full Professor, Jović Miomir, Full Professor, Kačar Aleksandra, Assistant Professor, Konstantinović Ljubica, Full Professor, Kostić Milutin, Clinical Teaching Assistant, Latas Milan, Associate Professor, Lačković Maja, Assistant Professor, Lavrnić Dragana, Full Professor, Lečić Toševski Dušica, Academician, Likić Lađević Ivana, Assistant Professor, Maksimović Jadranka, Associate Professor, Mališ Miloš, Associate Professor, Mandraš Ana, MD, Marković Dejan, Assistant Professor, Mazić Sanja, Full Professor, Milinić Maja, MD, Milović Kovačević Marijana, MD, Milošević Maja, MD, Miličić Biljana, Associate Professor, Mladenović Irena, Doctor of Dental Medicine, Nešković Mihailo, MD, Nešović Ostojić Jelena, Associate Professor, Nikolić Aleksandra, Teaching Assistant, Otašević Petar, Associate Professor, Palibrk Ivan, Associate Professor, Pantić Igor, Assistant Professor, Petrović Branka, MD, Plešinac Karapandžić Vesna, Associate Professor, Popević Martin, Assistant Professor, Prostran Milica, Full Professor, Radak Đorđe, Academician, Radenković Miroslav, Full Professor, Radenković Sandra, MD, Radojičić Aleksandra, Clinical Teaching Assistant, Savić Vujović Katarina, Assistant Professor, Srebro Dragana, Teaching Assistant, Stanojević Željka, Assistant Professor, Stevanović Vladan, Clinical Teaching Assistant, Stević Marija, MD, Stević Zorica, Full Professor, Stojanović Zvezdana, Assistant Professor, Stojanović Rundić Suzana, Assistant Professor, Simić Dušica, Full Professor, Suzić Lazić Jelena, Clinical Teaching Assistant, Šantrić Jelena, PhD in Law, Šipetić Grujičić Sandra, Full Professor, Šumarac Dumanović Mirjana, Full Professor, Šupić Gordana, Associate Professor, Vidaković Aleksandra, Assistant Professor, Vladislav Vukomanović, Associate Professor, Vučković Sonja, Full Professor, Vujčić Isidora, Assistant Professor, Vuković Dejana, Full Professor, Vuković Olivera, Assistant Professor, Zeković Ana, MD, Zidverc Trajković Jasna, Associate Professor, Živanović Vladimir, Clinical Teaching Assistant.

The reviewers for this textbook were Professor Vladimir S. Kostić, PhD, Academician, President of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SASA), Professor Dragan Micić, PhD, Academician, President of the Health Council of the Republic of Serbia, Professor Nebojša Lalić, PhD, Academician, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade.

At the meeting held on November 20, 2019, the Council for Specialist Education of the Faculty of Medicine of the Belgrade University made the decision that the textbook PAIN MEDICINE should be in the curriculum of graduate medical studies. The textbook PAIN MEDICINE is also the official textbook for subspecialist education in the field of pain medicine.

The authors and editors of the textbook were Professor Predrag Stevanović, PhD, Professor Dejan Nešić, PhD, and Professor Nebojša Lađević, PhD, who brought together a highly qualified expert multidisciplinary team to approach a very complex and quite challenging issue.

The first edition of the textbook PAIN MEDICINE is the first and only comprehensive publication dealing with this medical issue, not only in Serbia, but also in the Western Balkans. The book contains a total of 278 illustrations and 174 tables. It has 725 pages and is composed of six segments with a total of 90 chapters.

In the introductory segment, concepts and terms related to the taxonomy used in pain medicine are explained.

In the first segment, a detailed description of anatomical, physiological, and biochemical bases of pain is presented.

The second segment deals with the biological bases of pain, with a special insight into the epigenetics of pain medicine.

The third segment deals with the epidemiological bases of pain with a special insight into the methodology and the process of filling out the questionnaires for the submission of the final subspeciality paper in the field of pain medicine, which is very important for doctors subspecializing in this field.

The fourth segment concentrates on the pharmacological aspects of analgesics, namely: nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drugs, opioids, anticonvulsive and other analgesics which are used in the therapy of painful conditions. The interactions of analgesics with other drugs are given special attention.

The fifth segment focuses on the non-pharmacological methods of treating pain - methods of physical therapy and rehabilitation in the treatment of pain, as well as radiotherapeutic methods in pain management.

The sixth segment deals with the different clinical syndromes and conditions connected to pain, namely: acute postoperative pain, abdominal pain, pelvic pain, cervical pain, lumbar pain, neuropathic pain, ischemic pain, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, sports injuries and painful conditions, complex regional pain syndrome, cancer-related pain, the bases of oncological therapy, headaches and other conditions.

The final chapters of the textbook PAIN MEDICINE deal with the public health aspects and the legal framework of pain medicine, which broadens the circle of readers of this textbook.

At the end of each chapter in the book there is a list of references. Of special value are the numerous pictures, tables, and graphs, which complete, explain and adequately describe individual entities.

The textbook PAIN MEDICINE is intended for a wide circle of readers: specialists and subspecialists in all the specialties, residents completing their specialist and subspecialist training, dentists, biochemists, medical students, as well as nurses and medical technicians.

The textbook PAIN MEDICINE is a publication which best reflects and elucidates significant breakthroughs in the medical profession and medical science. The book is designed in such a way as to define the measures and procedures of the most important epidemiological, etiological, diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of this very important, widespread and very broad clinical entity in a modern and terminologically clear way. This entity, which is primarily in the domain of pain medicine, to a great extent also reflects the significance of treating numerous diseases and disorders in medical practice and science.

In this publication, the authors have summed up their experience of many years as well as the latest findings, and, with their didactic approach, they have provided a comprehensive overview of the different problems that the field of pain medicine deals with. In light of the current scientific concept, multidisciplinarity in connecting fundamental and clinical characteristics with data from other disciplines is promoted in this book, as a basis for the clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic approach to the treatment of many diseases.

The authors have succeeded in making this heterogenous area available and in removing any dilemmas that doctors may have in their day-to-day practice. They have offered a unique doctrinary approach to every form of illness. With its original characteristics, concept, homogeneity, and innovativeness, the textbook PAIN MEDICINE is unique in our region.

The launch of the textbook PAIN MEDICINE was held on July 5, 2020 in the Silos lecture hall, with the application of all the necessary preventive sanitary and epidemiological measures.

The textbook PAIN MEDICINE was published under the auspices of the Erasmus+ project: Strengthening Capacities for Higher Education of Pain Medicine in Western Balkan Countries - HEPMP and the Faculty of Medicine of the Belgrade University.