Background and aims: The demand for secondary care Pain Medicine Services (PMS) has continued to increase with the perception amongst clinicians working within those services that greater numbers of patients are referred with complex pain symptoms. This study aims to describe demographics and pain characteristics of patients referred to a secondary care PMS in Liverpool, UK.
Methods: Patients referred to the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust PMS between June and November 2018 were retrospectively analysed. Demographic data were obtained from General Practitioners’ referral information and the clinical information from the clinical review at first appointment with the PMS.
Results: 430 patients met the inclusion criteria; 64% were female. The age of patients referred ranged from 16 to 91 years old with the duration of pain ranging from 5 weeks to 46 years at time of first assessment. 283 (66%) patients had pain for over 2 years and the overall average pain duration at time of the first patient assessment was 7.2 years. 267 (62%) presented with multiple sites of pain; 46 (11%) with isolated back pain; 189 (44%) with back pain associated with pain in other sites; 146 patients had neuropathic pain, of whom 94 had radicular pain.
Conclusions:  Musculoskeletal pain accounts for the majority of referrals with a significant proportion of patients presenting with widespread pain. Patients’ duration of pain before referral to the PMS may be a reflection of service waiting times and the treatments that primary care services are able to provide.

PAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF PATIENTS REFERRED TO A UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL SECONDARY CARE PAIN MEDICINE SERVICE IN LIVERPOOL, UK