Acute moderate-to-severe pain is common after surgery, trauma, or musculoskeletal injury, but its management remains suboptimal. Current single-agent treatments are limited by safety concerns, narrow therapeutic windows, and abuse potential, leaving substantial unmet needs. Here, we aimed to review guidelines for the management of acute moderate-to-severe post-surgical, trauma-related, or musculoskeletal pain in adults and discuss existing and potential future analgesics in this setting. We searched PubMed to identify relevant guidelines and existing analgesics for acute pain. To identify compounds in development, we searched ClinicalTrials.gov and the European Union Clinical Trials Register. Guidelines universally recognize the limitations of single-agent analgesics (particularly those with a single mechanism of action [MoA]) and recommend a multimodal approach as an established standard for acute pain. The benefit–risk profiles of traditional treatments, including paracetamol (acetaminophen), nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors, and opioids, can be improved by combining agents targeting different pain pathways. In multimodal approaches, lower doses of constituent agents can be used to achieve the same or superior analgesic effects relative to the individual agents. In some cases, novel formulations and co-crystal technology offer enhanced physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties over individual agents. Lastly, initiatives to increase patient awareness and education around pain management may improve treatment satisfaction and quality of life, and hasten recovery. In conclusion, management of acute moderate-to-severe pain remains inadequate. Multimodal analgesics may offer advantages over traditional single-agent treatments (that often have a single MoA) for acute moderate-to-severe post-surgical, trauma-related, or musculoskeletal pain in adults. Multimodal analgesics, combined with patient education initiatives and non-pharmacological measures, when necessary, offer promise in addressing unmet needs in this setting.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) constitutes a major public health problem, and it is anticipated that its prevalence will continue to increase in the future. Its progressive nature requires a continuous and well-coordinated care approach. The follow-up for COPD should primarily focus on disease screening and control, which includes monitoring of pulmonary function, prevention of exacerbations, identification of aggravating factors and comorbidities, as well as ensuring treatment adequacy and adherence. However, existing clinical practice guidelines and consensus documents offer limited recommendations for the follow-up. In this context, we undertake a review of COPD treatment and the continuity of care recommendations endorsed by several scientific societies. Moreover, we underscore the importance of the involvement of nursing and community pharmacy in this process, as well as the utilization of quality indicators in the provision of care for the disease.

Globally, depression is the most common psychiatric disorder and is frequently associated with somatic symptom disorders, including pain as a physical symptom. There is a a current need to improve the detection and management of the individuals in which depression and pain coexist. Hence, the aim of this document is to provide recommendations in the diagnosis and management of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) who have pain as a physical symptom (PPS), in order to reduce the variability of clinical practice. The methodology used is based on the internationally recognised RAND/UCLA consensus method. The scientific committee, consisted of a group of eight multidisciplinary experts, defined 12 clinically relevant questions. After the systematic review of the literature, the scientific committee assessed the evidence and developed recommendations. The panel group with 15 participants validated these recommendations using a single Delphi round. To conclude, there was a final consensus meeting held to redefine with minor modifications the final recommendations. The scientific committee developed a total of 19 recommendations on the diagnosis and detection, impact of PPS in MDD, treatment of MDD with associated PPS, use of healthcare resources, additional recommendations, and care coordination of these patients. Globally, a substantial level of agreement (≥ 80%) was reached on all items during the Delphi round. All the 19 achieved consensus, seven of them (37%) were agreed with unanimity during the Delphi round. The recommendations with higher consensus were in relation to diagnosis, impact of PPS in MDD, treatment and use of healthcare resources. Currently, the evidence base for patients with MDD and PPS is still being developed and this consensus statement aims to bridge that gap by providing practical recommendations.