[Pain treatment in old age: special features and recommendations].

Background: For geriatric patients with chronic pain, a comprehensive well-coordinated pain management is pivotal to ensure the best possible pain relief and to minimize as far as possible preventable negative side effects of treatment.

Objective: Description of the difficulties in pain management of geriatric patients with respect to general basic rules that are worth paying attention to and presentation of pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment options.

Methods: This article describes the special features of pain management in older patients and gives recommendations on the use of analgesics and potential drug interactions in geriatric patients with organ dysfunction.

[Pain and pain management in old age: special features and recommendations].

Introduction: Pain is highly prevalent in older persons and has a variety of causes. In geriatric patients, especially in patients with dementia, pain is often not sufficiently recognized and therefore frequently remains untreated. For the affected patient group this can have far-reaching consequences for their functional and cognitive abilities and may consequently lead to loss of autonomy.