Multimodal pain therapy for persistent idiopathic facial pain - a pilot study

Objective Persistent Idiopathic Facial Pain (PIFP) is a pain syndrome with missing evidence-based therapy recommendations. According to the biopsychosocial pain model, multidisciplinary pain treatment (MPT) offers a promising therapeutic option for chronic pain syndromes. MPT is an interprofessional treatment procedure, consisting of medical, physiotherapeutic and psychotherapeutic treatment units, which has not yet been studied in PIFP. Methods This retrospective study included 25 patients with PIFP, who had been treated with MPT. Pain intensity on the numerical rating scale (NRS), perceived disability, habitual well-being, as well as anxiety/depression and stress scales were recorded. Moreover, the patients evaluated the efficacy of each type of the single therapeutic interventions. Results There was a highly significant decrease in the characteristic pain intensity. Also habitual well-being improved significantly, as did anxiety and depression. The perceived disability and stress also improved, but without statistical significance. Physiotherapy was rated as the most effective therapeutic unit. Among the medical measures, consultations took first place (40% of the participants). Nearly three-fourths of the patients (72%) would recommend MPT. Conclusion The present study shows beneficial outcomes in patients with PIFP following MPT. Patients evaluate physiotherapeutic treatment as particularly efficacious. Therefore, MPT can be considered as a therapeutic option in patients with PIFP.