EFIC opened a call inviting its community to propose new clinical guidance topics in pain management earlier in 2026, aiming to select high-quality proposals that EFIC will support through development and, once complete, champion as official clinical recommendations. The call closed on Sunday, 1 February 2026, with an independent evaluation process completed by Friday, 27 March 2026. EFIC received more than 25 submissions from across the pain community, reflecting strong interest in developing new evidence-based guidance for clinical practice. Following assessment against EFIC’s evaluation criteria, covering alignment with EFIC’s objectives, scientific and clinical relevance, methodological rigour, and interdisciplinary collaboration, three proposals were selected to proceed.
Selected proposals
- Improving Outcomes in Mixed Pain: EFIC Clinical Guidance for Diagnosis and Management, coordinated by Prof. Dr. Rainer Freynhagen (Pain Center Starnberger See, Benedictus Hospitals Tutzing and Feldafing, Germany) with Prof. Dr. Andrea Truini (Sapienza University, Rome, Italy) as co-coordinator. This will be the first evidence-based EFIC guidance on mixed pain, aiming to improve diagnostic accuracy and enable mechanism-based treatment decisions.
- Pain Management in People Using Opioids: A Multi-Society Clinical Practice Guideline, coordinated by Prof. Patrice Forget (University of Aberdeen and NHS Grampian, United Kingdom). The guideline will address the current fragmented, variable-quality guidance in this area and promote safe, evidence-based strategies that avoid abrupt discontinuation and overprescribing.
- European Clinical Practice Guidelines on the Use of Spinal Cord Stimulation for Pain, led by a multidisciplinary team coordinated by Prof. Sam Eldabe (The James Cook University Hospital, United Kingdom), together with colleagues from Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Building on an existing systematic review and network meta-analysis, this project will deliver the first pan-European guideline on spinal cord stimulation, covering clinical indications, contraindications, and best practice.
Each selected guideline group now moves into development, driving the literature searches, evidence synthesis, and consensus process for their respective recommendations. EFIC’s role is to support this work operationally, coordinating timelines, managing the Delphi process, and keeping documentation organised, while the scientific and editorial judgement remains with the guideline groups themselves. Once complete, the recommendations will be disseminated as official EFIC clinical guidance.
EFIC will continue to open calls for clinical guidance proposals at regular intervals. The next round is planned for Q1 2027.