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New Insight into Pain and Chronic Pain Management

A special issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine (ISSN 2077-0383). This special issue belongs to the section "Clinical Rehabilitation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 February 2026 | Viewed by 833

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Daejeon St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Daejeon 34943, Republic of Korea
Interests: complex regional pain syndrome; erector spinae plane block; postherpetic neuralgia; sympathetic block; epidural block
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Pain is becoming an increasingly important issue in our society, especially as we enter an aging society. The appropriate management of chronic pain is becoming increasingly important in maintaining quality of life.

Although new pain treatment techniques and discoveries on pain mechanisms are being made, limitations still exist, and appropriate pain management is still a difficult topic.

We are looking for submissions on creative and novel ideas for pain management, from any department or specialty. We believe it is important to share and utilize ideas with each other, and through this, we hope to find opportunities to overcome the limitations of pain treatment that we are currently facing.

Dr. Eung Don Kim
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • chronic pain
  • pain management
  • pharmacological treatment
  • non-pharmacological interventions
  • neuromodula-tion
  • multidisciplinary approaches
  • personalized medicine
  • quality of life

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

28 pages, 1161 KB  
Review
κ-Opioid Receptor Agonists as Robust Pain-Modulating Agents: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Potential in Pain Modulation
by Mario García-Domínguez
J. Clin. Med. 2025, 14(20), 7263; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm14207263 - 15 Oct 2025
Viewed by 715
Abstract
Background/Objectives: κ-Opioid receptors have emerged as promising targets for novel analgesic strategies, offering the potential to relieve pain without the adverse effects commonly associated with μ-opioid receptor activation, such as respiratory depression, tolerance, and addiction. This review focuses on recent advances in [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: κ-Opioid receptors have emerged as promising targets for novel analgesic strategies, offering the potential to relieve pain without the adverse effects commonly associated with μ-opioid receptor activation, such as respiratory depression, tolerance, and addiction. This review focuses on recent advances in understanding KOR-mediated pain modulation and aims to evaluate the therapeutic potential of KOR agonists in addressing the limitations of current opioid-based treatments. Methods: This review synthesizes evidence from comprehensive preclinical studies investigating the effects of KOR agonists on central pain pathways, including modulation of neurotransmitter release and attenuation of ascending nociceptive signaling. In addition, emerging clinical trial data on KOR-selective compounds will be evaluated, together with recent advances in biased agonism and region-specific receptor signaling, to guide the development of next-generation analgesics. Results: Preclinical studies demonstrate robust antinociceptive effects of KOR agonists, while early clinical trials indicate that several KOR-selective compounds effectively reduce pain symptoms. Advances in biased agonism and targeted receptor signaling suggest the potential to achieve analgesia with reduced dysphoria and sedation. Conclusions: KOR-targeted therapies show significant translational potential for pain management. The integration of preclinical and clinical evidence supports the development of next-generation KOR agonists that could provide effective analgesia while minimizing the adverse effects associated with conventional opioids. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insight into Pain and Chronic Pain Management)
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