Presented is a case report of a 55-year-old man with a suspected diagnosis of pancreatic malignancy who was referred for pain management to the pain and palliative care clinic. A diagnosis of pain originating from a malignancy was later ruled out. The patient was referred for psychiatric evaluation, where his pain symptoms were confirmed to be somatoform in origin. This case highlights the importance of ruling out somatization as the cause of symptoms in difficult pain patients.
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