Abstract
Pain is defined as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP).
Accordingly, pain is always subjective, so the objective evaluation of pain is very difficult. However, adequate evaluation of pain is useful for the selection of treatment methods and the judgement of treatment efficacy.
Routine pain screening for the presence and intensity of pain for all patients using a Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) is recommended as a simple method for doctors and nurses in the USA. However, pain occurs by intricate mechanisms, so it should never be evaluated by only one scale such as the NRS. Pain evaluated by a simple scale is can bias the choice of treatment method for pain toward the use of opiates in the USA.
It is necessary to understand not only the intensity of pain but also the type and nature of pain to administer suitable treatment to patients suffered from pain.
