Pain serves as one of the most prevalent motivations for individuals to seek guidance from their primary care physicians. Approximately one in five adults in Europe grapples with chronic pain, making its management a substantial challenge within primary care. Chronic pain takes a toll on various aspects of life, including quality of life, workforce participation, productivity, and healthcare costs. In the United States, the annual expenses linked to chronic pain are estimated at a staggering $560–635 billion, while in Europe, healthcare and socioeconomic costs related to chronic pain account for 3–10% of gross domestic product.
Historically, pain has been categorized as “acute” or “chronic” by different organizations. Acute pain is typically defined as the body’s expected physiological response to adverse chemical, thermal, or mechanical stimuli, often associated with surgery, trauma, or acute illnesses.
Traditionally, chronic pain has been described by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) as “pain that persists beyond the normal tissue healing time (usually around 3 months) without apparent biological value.” Unlike acute pain, chronic pain lacks a protective function. Recently, a revised definition of pain has emerged: “Pain is a distressing experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, encompassing sensory, emotional, cognitive, and social components.