AI Article Synopsis

  • The COVID-19 pandemic has created new challenges for healthcare systems, leading to an increase in chronic pain cases and changes in pain management approaches, primarily due to the postponement of medical services.
  • Telemedicine and digital health have surged as critical solutions for providing care, enabling remote treatment for patients with chronic pain who face difficulties accessing healthcare services.
  • This literature review analyzes 38 selected studies from various databases, highlighting the evolution, benefits, challenges, and ethical concerns surrounding telemedicine in pain management post-pandemic, as well as future directions for digital health technology.

Article Abstract

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare systems are facing extraordinary challenges. Our approaches to medicine have changed and created a whole new generation of people who have chronic pain. Various medical services were postponed. The pandemic significantly impacted the bio-psychosocial model of pain and the management of chronic pain. These new challenges affected millions of patients worldwide, with more burden on patients with chronic pain. Telemedicine and digital health rather than traditional office visits have become essential tools for communications, resulting in an unmatched surge in telehealth adoption. This new approach facilitated the remote treatment and follow-up of patients who have difficulty to access the healthcare services, particularly patients with chronic pain and those who were receiving regular controlled medications. An extensive computer search was conducted, during the period (from January 2014 to March 2024), and included literature from PubMed, Scopus, MEDLINE, and Google scholar. According to preset inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 38 articles have been included in this review article. This literature review focuses on the innovation of telemedicine and digital health in pain management, especially in the context of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The manuscript provides a comprehensive overview of telemedicine and digital communications, their evolution, and their significance in healthcare. It also emphasizes the benefits, challenges, limitations, and the ethical concerns of telemedicine in pain management after the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the document explores the different modes of the telecommunications and discusses the future directions of the digital health technology.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11255158PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40122-024-00620-7DOI Listing

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