Pain management in chronic pancreatitis: beyond opioids.

Non-opioid treatments, especially neuromodulators like gabapentinoids, show promise for managing chronic pancreatitis pain affecting 80-90% of patients.

• Why it matters: Opioids are widely used but pose risks of side effects and addiction, highlighting the urgent need for safer, targeted pain management options in chronic pancreatitis.
• What they did: The review examines pharmacological, psychological, dietary, and surgical interventions, emphasizing emerging neuromodulatory and anti-inflammatory therapies, alongside advanced pain phenotyping methods.
• The result: Integrating multimodal, mechanism-based approaches and personalized assessments could improve pain control and guide tailored therapies, though high-quality evidence and further research are still needed.