====== Intractable pain ======


Intractable [[pain]], also known as Intractable Pain [[Disease]] or IPD, is a severe, constant, relentless, and debilitating pain that is not curable by any known means and which causes a house-bound or bed-bound state and early death if not adequately treated, usually with [[opioid]]s and/or [[intervention]]al [[procedure]]s. It is not relieved by ordinary medical, surgical, nursing, or pharmaceutical measures. Unlike the more common [[chronic pain]], it causes adverse biologic effects on the body's cardiovascular, hormone, and neurologic systems. Patients experience changes in testosterone, estrogen, cortisol, thyroid hormones, and/or pituitary hormones. Both men and women require testosterone, however many doctors neglect to test women for low testosterone. Untreated Intractable Pain can cause death.