This journal article studies the efficacy of lidocaine in treating chronic pain. I was interested in this topic as several of the patients at the family medicine rotation site were prescribed lidocaine patches for the treatment of low back pain. However, a few of the patients stated that the lidocaine patches provided little to no relief. The problem arises in that the exact mechanism of action of lidocaine in its management of pain remains unclear. Chronic pain is also notoriously difficult to treat that requires several different approaches over an unclear span of time. This journal explains how lidocaine patches does show efficacy in long-term management of low back pain and osteoarthritic pain with compliant long-term use. The study suggests that further research on the modality of treatment (such as injection versus cutaneous) and dosage  over a larger sample of research participants is needed to establish the clinical use of lidocaine patches in the treatment of chronic pain.