American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians Annu

Pain management is part of the pratice in many medical specialities, but it is also a specialty in itself. Groups like the American Society of Interventional Pain Specialists are seeing membership growth--partly because of the need to become more effective advocates.

Drugs have not been shown effective in relieving the debilitating headaches that can follow mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI). Researchers report that transcranial magnetic stimulation appears to do better.

Pain physicians and surgeons have concerns about performing back surgery on patients already taking opioids to control pain. A report from Massachusetts General Hospital researchers shows those concerns appear to be mostly unfounded.

Surgery appears to work better than conventional medical management to treat discogenic lumbar back pain, team reported at the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians meeting in Orlando, FL.

Targeted radiofrequency ablation (t-RFA) can be safely used to alleviate pain from spinal metastatic cancer, a Kansas team found.

Chronic low back pain can make patients miserable. Much of that pain is in the sacroiliac region. Reporting at the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, a University of Kentucky department of physical medicine and rehabilitation said Cooled Radiofrequency Ablation (CRFA) is a viable treatment option.

Gabapentin is used to treat neuropathic pain from several causes, including diabetic neuropathy, post-herpetic neuralgia, and central neuropathic pain. In a study presented at the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians in Orlando, FL, April 11, Tobore Onojighofia, MD, MPH and colleagues found genetics plays a role in which patients do well on the drug.

Interventional pain management physicians are looking at bringing back an old therapy: destroying pain-causing nerves with cryo-ablation.

With the US population growing older and heavier, chronic knee pain is becoming common, and total knee replacement surgery is on the rise. Some 40% of women age 60 to 70 and 25% of men that age have such pain, and many turn to total knee replacement surgery. New studies suggest denervation of the nerves responsible for knee pain could be an alternative.

An expert on both flight and medical safety, author John Nance tells physicians the recent crash of a German Wings jet holds lessons for medicine as well as aviation.

Interventional pain management-the field of helping patients with acute or chronic pain without doing major surgery--is a both a growing specialty and one that is under assault. As the annual meeting of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians got underway in Orlando, FL today, group leaders outlined the organization's political agenda.