Clinical Conundrum: Catch-22

We will discuss the difficulties in diagnosing and treating a patient with a significant neurological entity who develops a "Catch-22." This Catch-22 may prevent appropriate testing and therefore impede finding the correct diagnosis and treatment. (Recorded at PAINWeek 2016)

A Primer for Chronic Pain Management and Substance Abuse Disorders

The field of pain management has undergone a circuitous adventure, much like a rabbit hole. As the economic, mental health, and medical consequences of prescribing opioid medications have mounted, the prevailing logic regarding the usefulness of prescribing opioids for chronic pain has shifted. The...

The Five Coping Skills That Every Patient Needs

This session will teach participants the 5 core pain coping skills that all pain patients need: understanding, believing, calming, balancing, and coping. By knowing these skills providers will have a better idea of how they can plan treatment and intervene with patients more effectively...

Case Based Challenges in Acute Pain Management

Acute pain is associated with negative outcomes; therefore, efforts to prevent and control pain are necessary. Goals for acute postoperative pain management include reducing the incidence and severity of pain, particularly that which impacts patient function such as movement; minimizing side effects...

Diagnosis and Treatment of Centralized Pain and Neuroinflammation

Chronic pain may centralize in the spinal cord and brain leaving the patient with constant, neuropathic pain. The mechanism of this development is microglial activation and neuroinflammation. Successful treatment usually requires a special pharmacologic regimen that includes analgesics, neuropathic...

Current Issues Impacting Spinal Manipulative Therapy for Pain

Manual therapy has long been used to treat spinal pain. Spinal manipulative therapy, in particular, has received special emphasis as many providers use it as a featured part of their practice. It has a favorable side effect profile, but there continues to be healthy debate on whether it is an...

Chronic Pain Patients Who Fail Standard Treatment

There is a group of intractable pain patients who have extensively accessed the pain treatment system only to be unable to find satisfactory pain relief. These patients have sought treatment at multiple academic centers and attempted numerous nonmedical, pharmacologic, and invasive interventions...

Overview of Critical Pain Management Practice Issues

Every day something new happens in pain management. One day it might be a change in a licensing board practice standards and the next day might bring new legislation on opioid overdose prevention. Whatever the case, pain management practitioners need a system to help keep themselves and their staff...

Linking into Social Media for Pain Practitioners - Part 2

Social media presents many opportunities for pain practitioners to keep up with the pulse of what is happening in pain practice and pain policy. Thought leaders share valuable information via social media, and social media is one way patients obtain and share information about pain. This session...

Assessing and Managing Insomnia in Patients With Chronic Pain

Patients suffering from chronic pain commonly experience comorbid problems that can further impair quality of life. These include psychological and medical comorbidities and fatigue and sleep disorders. Greater than 50% of patients with pain disorders experience sleep disturbance, with estimates as...