Monitoring
Patients living with chronic pain require frequent and regular monitoring, especially when treatment is initiated. Patients should be seen every 2 to 4 weeks after initiating treatment until treatment is stabilised. Established patients with good pain control should be seen every 6 to 12 months.
For patients taking opioids, benefits and risks should be evaluated within 1 to 4 weeks of initiation or dosage escalation, and regularly thereafter. Clinicians should also periodically evaluate risks for opioid-related harms and discuss these with the patient.[42]
Additional testing is not indicated unless new complaints develop.
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