Narcotic maintenance for chronic pain. Medical and legal guidelines.

Narcotic maintenance may be needed to relieve chronic pain in ambulatory patients who fail to respond to other pain therapies. Oral, long-acting narcotics are preferred, and nonnarcotic pain therapies can be administered simultaneously to reduce the narcotic dosage. To legally undertake narcotic maintenance, the physician must document the presence of an incurable, painful medical condition. We recommend that the patient give informed consent, since narcotic maintenance may lead to dependence and addiction. When done properly, narcotic maintenance is an appropriate medical-legal procedure that is safe and may provide humanitarian pain relief.