Dexmedetomidine Infusion Impact on Chronic Pain Patients

The extent of reduction of consumed analgesics

Chronic pain (CP) was defined as pain experienced daily or on most days and induced
 restriction of at least one activity. CP is one of the commonest complaints confronted in
 outpatient clinics and constitutes a challenge for all medical provisions. CP is a
 multifaceted condition; postoperative CP is frequently encountered in clinical practice and
 may be of debilitating severity leading to worse quality of life (QOL) especially CP with a
 neuropathic component as post-mastectomy pain syndrome and post-amputation pain and chronic
 post-sternotomy pain that seriously impacts patients' QOL and affects patient recovery till
 12 months after cardiac surgery. Chronic musculoskeletal pain as defined by the International
 Pain Association is the persistent or recurrent pain involving spine, bones, joints, and/or
 musculo-soft tissue.
 
 Chronic pain was considered as a long-lasting stressor that might induce disordered mood
 varying between depression and anxiety with consequent challenge of this combination on
 treatment outcomes and consumption of health resources. This necessitated psychological
 screening of CP patient to identify and manage patients with disordered mood to improve CP
 treatment outcomes.