On January 1, 2001, pain management standards, addressing the assessment and management of pain, went into effect for Joint Commission accredited ambulatory care facilities, critical access hospitals, hospitals, and office-based surgery practices.
Inadequate acute pain control is still more the rule than the exception (probably because of the limitations of available analgesic techniques). Fewer than half of postoperative patients receive adequate pain relief. In spite of regulations, over 80% of patients who undergo surgery in the United States report postoperative pain moderate, severe, or extreme. Most of these patients report worse pain control after discharge from hospital.
Uncontrolled acute pain has many negative consequences for the patient, for the clinicians managing the patient, and for those who manage the hospital or clinic that deals with acute pain. Poor pain management puts patients at risk, creates needless suffering, and increases costs of care.
Anti inflammatory drugs were derivated from aspirin, opiates from morphine and local anesthetics from cocaine.
Neosaxitoxin is the first member of a new family of drugs for clinical use, the Site-1 Sodium Channel Blockers, highly specific, long lasting efficient and safe.