Transitional Pain Services and Clinics: A Scoping Review of Recent Literature

Purpose: The goal of manuscript is to summarize and synthesize the body of literature on Transitional Pain Services and Clinics (TPS/Cs), highlighting models, outcomes, and implementation considerations. Methods: Using a published, Artificial Intelligence-assisted, interactive algorithm, PubMed, CINAHL, and SCOPUS listed literature were searched for all articles related to TPS/Cs published in the last 10 years. Results: 58 relevant articles were identified and grouped into six topics. Conclusion: Multiple models of TPS/Cs were identified. The most commonly described were multidisciplinary clinics of pain physicians, nurses, psychologists, physiologists, and other health-related personnel. Mostly, retrospective literature suggests that TPS/Cs can effectively bridge acute postoperative pain management with sustained long-term care, particularly for patients at higher risk of chronic postsurgical pain and opioid misuse. More prospective and randomized trials are needed.