Pain management includes which of the following?

• A. Documenting patient satisfaction with care
• B. Diagnostic laboratory tests
• C. Techniques for preventing, reducing, or relieving pain
• D. Scheduling routine follow up visits

Answer: (C)

Pain management centers on preventing, reducing, or relieving a patient’s pain through targeted interventions. This means selecting appropriate strategies—such as medications, physical therapies, procedural approaches, and nonpharmacologic techniques like heat or cold, relaxation, or distraction—and then evaluating how well they reduce pain and improve function. The focus is on actively controlling the pain experience and adjusting the plan based on the patient’s response, goals, and side effects. Documenting patient satisfaction, while important for quality care, does not itself manage pain. Diagnostic laboratory tests can help identify causes of pain but are not methods that relieve it. Scheduling routine follow-up visits supports ongoing care and monitoring but is not a pain-relief technique.