Free Books for Download

IASP is proud to offer several publications free of charge to IASP members and the general public.

Classification of Chronic Pain

This second edition of our taxonomy book, edited by Harold Merskey and Nikolai Bogduk as part of the IASP Task Force on Taxonomy, was published in 1994. The book includes detailed pain definitions, descriptions of pain syndromes, and codes for chronic pain diagnosis. The codes for chronic pain diagnosis, descriptions of pain syndromes, and detailed pain definitions have all been updated and some new descriptions have been added.

Part III of the book (Pain Terminology), updated in 2011, is freely available to the general public.

Core Curriculum for Professional Education in Pain

The third revision of the IASP Core Curriculum has been many years in gestation. It follows the very successful format used by Dr. Howard L. Fields, editor of the second edition. The content has been expanded by over one-third; new chapters have been added, and virtually all the text and the references have been revised. It is hoped that members will find this a significantly improved resource for patient care and training purposes.

The full text of this book is freely available to the general public. To obtain permission to reproduce any part of the book from the hard copy or the Web site, please submit a copyright permissions request.

Guide to Pain Management in Low-Resource Settings

Guide to Pain Management in Low-Resource Settings is intended to support health care providers in low-resource settings. Chapters were written by a multidisciplinary and multinational team of authors. Practitioners in settings with limited resources will benefit from easy-to-read information about simple and cost-effective approaches that can provide maximum effects in managing pain in their patients.

As part of its educational mission, IASP will make the book freely available for educational purposes. A print version will not be available, but the book (or individual chapters) may be downloaded and printed to be used or distributed as needed free of charge. Watch the website for updated information.

First Steps: The Early Years of IASP 1973-1984

First Steps: The Early Years of IASP 1973-1984 is a set of memoirs written by former IASP Executive Officer Louisa E. Jones. It was published and distributed in conjunction with the 13^th World Congress on Pain in Montréal, Canada. It is freely available to the general public as a PDF download.

A limited number of hard copies are available from the IASP Secretariat office. If you would like a copy of these memoirs sent by mail, please contact us. Though the book itself is free, you will be asked to pay the cost of shipping ($4 in North America, $9 everywhere else).