Pain clinics: reassessment of objectives and outcomes.

A review of published reports on pain clinic programs was done in order to demonstrate the limitations of treatment goals which do not encompass the biologic, psychologic, and social aspects of pain rehabilitation. The reason for these limitations can be attributed to several factors, an important one being the lack of attention given to the patient's social situation. Since chronic pain is truly a biopsychosocial syndrome, it is recommended that treatment objectives include restoration of social functioning of the patient as much as pain relief or control of pain behavior.