Healthcare decision makers in search of reliable information that compares health interventions increasingly turn to systematic reviews for the best summary of the evidence. Systematic reviews identify, select, assess, and synthesize the findings of similar but separate studies, and can help clarify what is known and not known about the potential benefits and harms of drugs, devices, and other healthcare services. Systematic reviews can be helpful for clinicians who want to integrate research findings into their daily practices, for patients to make well-informed choices about their own care, for professional medical societies and other organizations that develop clinical practice guidelines. Too often systematic reviews are of uncertain or poor quality. There are no universally accepted standards for developing systematic reviews leading to variability in how conflicts of interest and biases are handled, how evidence is appraised, and the overall scientific rigor of the process. In Finding What Works in Health Care the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends 21 standards for developing high-quality systematic reviews of comparative effectiveness research. The standards address the entire systematic review process from the initial steps of formulating the topic and building the review team to producing a detailed final report that synthesizes what the evidence shows and where knowledge gaps remain. Finding What Works in Health Care also proposes a framework for improving the quality of the science underpinning systematic reviews. This book will serve as a vital resource for both sponsors and producers of systematic reviews of comparative effectiveness research.

Clinical Pain Management Pain has many dimensions; biological, psychological and social. All of these warrant attention in clinical management and research. Despite advances in pain management and understanding, chronic pain in particular continues to be a major health concern. Many challenging problems persist in our efforts to understand and manage chronic pain. This revised and updated second edition of Clinical Pain Management: A Practical Guide draws attention to the challenges that exist for people living with chronic pain conditions, for the clinician trying to provide effective management of the patient’s pain, for the scientist seeking to unravel the mechanisms underlying pain, and for society as a whole. This book offers the opportunity for clinicians to improve their knowledge about pain and apply that knowledge for the benefit of their patients. This second edition has built upon the first edition, which was distinctive in its integration of the clinical, psychosocial and basic science topics related to the different types of pain and their management. With up-to-date information throughout the 44 chapters of this second edition, this book provides a valuable resource about pain from a variety of perspectives. Clinical Pain Management: A Practical Guide, Second Edition, will be particularly valuable not only for clinicians to help them assist with their patients experiencing an acute pain or suffering from chronic pain, but also for scientists who wish to gain more insights into these pain conditions and their underlying processes.