American Pain Society's 27th Annual Scientific Meeting (May 8 – 10, 2008): Clinical Guideline on Chronic Opioid Therapy in Chronic Noncancer Pain: Process and Progress Report

There is a need for a methodologically sound, credible and useable guideline to inform clinical practice, research and public policy around the use of chronic opioid therapy in noncancer chronic pain. Lead members of the APS/AAPM Opioid Guideline Committee who have been involved in creating such a document will present the processes involved in: 1. Creating a balanced interdisciplinary committee. 2. Defining the scope of the project; agreeing upon and draft key questions to guide the literature search. 3. Selecting an effective grading system to score the literature. 4. Conducting an exhaustive, comprehensive literature review, analysis and grading of the evidence. 5. Drafting recommendations based upon strength and quality of the evidence and practice experience. 6. Applying a modified Delphi process to refine and adjudicate recommendations. 7. External review and finalizing recommendations. 8. Publication of the guideline. By the time APS convenes for its 2008 conference, Steps 1 through 7 will have been completed and ready to present in order to inform APS conference attendees of the processes involved, state of the science per the evidence reviews, and key recommendations for clinical practice.