Every year thousands of scientific papers are published on the topic of pain. Far too much information to be absorbed by any one patient or clinician. In response, the National Pain Center has developed expertise in the synthesis of information, and creation of clinical practice guidelines.

Evidence alone is not sufficient to guide clinical decision-making, and we place a high value on patient values and preferences. Accordingly, we work closely in all of our projects with patients who have lived experience with pain and their caregivers – both to ensure our efforts are accountable to their needs, and to incorporate patients’ and carers’ input into the design, analysis and interpretation of our research.