| Article
I would start off by saying that methadone definitely doesn’t have a sense of humor. I think as a practitioner, you have to not only understand the literature for methadone but also the limitations of what we know of methadone. It can be very unforgiving, and so really having a respect for those...
| Podcast
Complex medication decisions are an integral part of treating patients with pain and palliative care. Pharmacists have a unique perspective on using these medications creatively and effectively. This session will flirt with tips and tricks on using medications appropriately for patients with chronic...
| Article
Conclusions from a new study conducted at Vanderbilt University Medical Center suggest that regular physician visits can substantially reduce the incidence of attempted suicide among patients with fibromyalgia. The research team found that patients who did not attempt suicide spent an average of 50...
| Article
When we talk about complex pain and patients with advanced illness, there are some basics that people need to know, which is how to treat the patients with opioids and other coanalgesic medications, but the key point is that it’s a team affair, and I would ask primary care physicians not to do it...
| Podcast
To provide high quality care for individuals with pain, a healthcare practitioner should have current knowledge of clinical standards, analyze each patient's medical needs, and create an individualized treatment plan. Similarly, to provide high quality legal counsel to pain care practitioners, an...
| Article
We know that chronic pain does have a biological interface. There are structural and functional changes in the brain, such as gray matter loss and a functional reorganization. We also know that chronic pain is associated with systemic effects, such as increased inflammation throughout the body such...
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When we look at things like frequency, intensity, duration, and extent of pain, we’re better able to evaluate the effect on the system and it’s not only affecting the brain, it’s affecting all the stress response systems. There is work that’s showing that we can actually capture this and show that...
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I think we’ve been so focused on this opioid crisis that we have forgotten that these are very brittle people who have significant psychiatric co-morbidities, including depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, substance use disorders. I think that suicide is really a silent epidemic that has not been...
| Podcast
New paradigms of patient care postsurgery (such as spinal surgery) utilizing both pre- and postoperative multimodal approaches to analgesia, nonopioid medications specifically, will be discussed. Included in the course will be presurgical and immediate postoperative medications, and both acute and...
| Podcast
Patients with chronic pain are less active than average, exposing them to increasing risks of comorbid conditions, resulting in decreasing functional status for ADLs and low activity ability. This cycle results in low tolerance for physical activities; decreased participation in school, workforce...