Pain Management and COVID-19: A Latin American Perspective.

Marixa Guerrero,Giustino Varrassi,Martina Rekatsina,Lanfranco Venturoni,Joseph Pergolizzi Jr,Pablo Castroman,Maria Berenguel Cook,Marco Antonio Narvaez Tamayo,Ovelio Quiroga

doi:10.7759/cureus.23100

Abstract

Vaccinations and therapeutics have been developed for COVID-19, but vaccine uptake varies markedly among countries. Public health responses have also varied, in particular, with lockdown efforts and school closing. All over the world, the pandemic exposed healthcare and economic weaknesses. COVID-19 exacerbated mental health issues by exposing the population to prolonged periods of fear, anxiety, financial stress, psychological uncertainties, and sometimes isolation from even family and friends. Chronic pain patients have been disproportionately affected. The pandemic-associated stresses may have exacerbated their already painful symptoms while at the same time interrupting their access to care. The ramifications of the COVID-19 post-viral syndrome (“long COVID-19”) are not yet known. COVID-19 viral infection has been associated with neuropathic pain symptoms. Tele-triage and telehealth applications can help manage chronic pain patients in the COVID-19 era, but many interventional procedures, injections, or other treatments have been delayed. The role of palliative care for patients with terminal cases of infection must be re-examined. Palliative care is a relatively new medical specialty and allows terminally ill patients to die in as much comfort and peace as can be afforded to them. More training in palliative care for all clinicians is urgently needed. COVID-19 exposed much that is wrong or weak or inadequate in our healthcare systems, but it also allowed us to embrace new technologies and develop better systems to manage the challenge of a pandemic.

Highlights

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic exposed the global healthcare system to an unprecedented challenge
Latin America faced specific challenges in that there was a cultural distrust of the healthcare system, a skepticism about the seriousness of the pandemic, and a strong interest in alternative medicine
COVID-19 is associated with certain painful symptoms, such as myalgia and headache, and post-viral syndrome or “long COVID-19” has been linked with a range of symptoms, including neuropathic pain

Summary

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the global healthcare system to an unprecedented challenge. The COVID-19 pandemic showed that many hospitals around the world, including those in Latin America, need more training to manage advanced diseases, better equipment, more stores of personal protective equipment (PPE), specific protocols for end of life, and better training of healthcare professionals for pain management. People with pre-existing chronic pain, regardless of their COVID-19 status, may have suffered worsening symptoms as a result of the psychological stresses and social limitations associated with prolonged isolation [41]. The humanitarian crisis of a pandemic strains our social systems, challenges medicine, collapses the economy, and overwhelms our public health efforts to care for sick and dying individuals These plagues divert considerable economic and human resources away from the common good and toward local and national solutions aimed only at mitigating suffering, providing whatever incomplete relief is possible. It is imperative for us as medical authorities and healthcare professionals to acknowledge that the pandemic may worsen, may resolve but recur, or those new variants may arise

Conclusions

Disclosures

Findings

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