Emerging technologies in acute pain management

Acute pain is a prevalent clinical concern that impacts millions worldwide and often initiates opioid use. Despite advances in multimodal analgesia, challenges such as opioid dependency, under-treatment, and patient heterogeneity persist. This narrative review aims to present recent evidence on emerging technologies in acute pain management, covering innovations in diagnostics, therapeutics, and drug delivery systems. We searched PubMed and Embase databases and included studies from 2015 to 2025 that presented positive evidence of the investigation of these technologies. The review identifies a wide range of emerging tools and interventions, including digital pain assessment scales, wearable biosensors, virtual reality, hypnosis, music therapy, and multimodal distraction. Pharmacological innovations such as sublingual sufentanil, liposomal bupivacaine, Nav 1.8 inhibitors, cebranopadol, and co-crystals of tramadol-celecoxib also show promise. Novel delivery systems - oral patient-controlled analgesics devices, transdermal iontophoretic fentanyl, and bioresorbable nerve stimulators - further enhance individualized pain control. Technological advancements are expanding the toolkit for acute pain management, offering non-opioid, patient-centered, and precision-based alternatives. However, further large-scale and longitudinal studies are required to validate their efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness across diverse patient populations and clinical settings.