Pharmacotherapeutic management of pain with a focus directed at the geriatric patient.

Twenty percent to 50% of geriatric noninstitutionalized patients are victimized by pain that can result from multiple chronic medical and psychiatric diseases. This article discusses recognizing the barriers that the clinician encounters in evaluating pain in geriatric patients, taking a pain and pain medication history, and establishing a treatment plan to address the patient's experience of pain. It discusses dosage modifications appropriate for the geriatric population and reviews the drugs available to alleviate pain.