At the 2018 American Academy of Pain Medicine Annual Meeting, Hannah Nilles, PT, DPT, from Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, discussed the role of physical therapy in a multidisciplinary pain management program. When patients start physical therapy in a multidisciplinary pain management program, their initial reaction is to question how this therapy is going to be different from all the therapy they have had in the past. The PT in these programs is different in the following areas: Active instead of passive modalities. Graded exposure. Graded exposure to exercise helps desensitize a sensitive nervous system by using the body to teach the
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At the 2018 Insurance Rehab Synergy Group Annual Conference, Stephen McKenna, MD, Chief of the Rehabilitation Trauma Center at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center talked about the history of stem cells and the potential from current stem cell trials. Embryonic stem cells are extracted from fertilized human eggs that were not implanted. Often times these were extra eggs left over from fertilization treatments. There has been ethical questions around the use of embryonic stem cells which has caused issues with the funding and authorization of this research. The value of stem cells is that, in theory, they have the ability
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At the 2018 Insurance Rehab Synergy Group Annual Conference, Martin Waalkes, PhD, Director of Neuro Rehabilitation for Hope Network Neuro Rehabilitation discussed the challenges of behavior regulation and engagement in acquired brain injury rehabilitation. One of the biggest challenges with brain injury patients can be with their behavior. Patients can have self-centered behavior and not understand the needs and perceptions of others. They also can have problems with self-control which can lead to issues with aggressiveness, outbursts, and anxiety. Up to 75% of brain injury patients can have issues with irritability. These issues with irritability and agitation can impact the
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At the 2018 American Academy of Pain Medicine Annual Meeting, Patricia Cole, PhD, from Shirley Ryan AbilityLab discussed the role of psychology in an interdisciplinary pain management program. The initial psychological assessment for an interdisciplinary pain management focuses on whether there are any contra-indications pain management including: Significant cognitive impairment. If the patient has cognitive impairment such as limited short-term memory they are not a good candidate. Making sure their emotional status is stable enough for the pain management program so that they are not a threat to themselves or others. It is important for the patient to be ready
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At the 2018 American Academy of Pain Management Annual meeting, a panel discussed how you approach patients after they have completed an interdisciplinary pain management program. The panel included: James Atchison, DO – Shirley Ryan Ability Lab Ravi Prasad, PhD – Stanford University School of Medicine Patricia Cole, PhD – Shirley Ryan Ability Lab Elizabeth Gaffron, MOTR/L – Shirley Ryan AbilityLab Sharon Hsu, PhD – Swedish Medical Center Felix Lavsky, MS – Shirley Ryan Ability Lab Kristin Lucas, PT, DPT – Swedish Medical Group Hannah Nilles, PT, DPT – Shirley Ryan Ability Lab The speakers talked about the importance of
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At the 2018 American Academy of Pain Medicine Annual Meeting, Michael Harris, PhD, from Pacific Rehabilitation Centers, discussed the current state of Interdisciplinary pain treatment programs. Interdisciplinary Care means a group of different specialties and experts who are involved in patient pain care in an equal fashion, and share a single goal of improving the patient’s quality of life. A typical team includes: Medicine/nursing Psychology Physical Therapy Occupational Therapy Biofeedback relaxation Wide variety of alternative approaches These programs started in the Northwest in the 1960s and they have now spread around the world. The first program was accredited in 1986
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At the 2018 American Academy of Pain Management Annual Meeting, Stephen Stanos, DO – Swedish Health System and President-American Academy of Pain Medicine talked about why the time is right for interdisciplinary pain treatment programs. The opioid epidemic is getting lots of media attention these days and this has been changing prescribing habits of physicians. How do you approach pain control in this new environment. The time is ripe for interdisciplinary pain management programs. The National Pain Strategy is the government’s first effort into developing better pain management at the primary physician level including self management and interdisciplinary pain programs.
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At the 2018 American Academy of Pain Medicine Annual Meeting, a panel discussed how the use of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia and chronic pain. The speakers included: R. Robert Auger, MD – Mayo Clinic Fiona Barwick, PhD – Psychiatric and Behavioral Sciences Heather Poupore-King, PhD – Stanford Hospitals and Clinics Most treatment for chronic pain focuses on finding the source of the pain and addressing it. However, the psychology of pain is an extremely important aspect of pain management which is often overlooked. Impairment with sleep is a common element with chronic pain as up to 88% of patients
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At the 2018 American Academy of Pain Medicine Annual Meeting, a panel discussed the use of virtual reality (VR) for acute and chronic pain. The panel included: Kim Bullock, MD – Stanford University Jeffrey Gold, PhD – Keck School of Medicine, USC Ted Jones, PhD – Pain Consultants of East Tennessee There is a shortage of treatment options for pain medicine. It’s very difficult to find physicians that are board certified for pain medicine, pain psychologists are in extremely short supply and it’s also difficult to find occupational and physical therapists that specialist in chronic pain. It also seems that
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At the 2018 American Academy of Pain Medicine Annual Meeting, Sean Mackey, MD PhD, Chief, Pain Medicine Division at Stanford University discussed the use of brain imaging in the treatment of chronic pain. This session discussed brain imaging technologies to study chronic pain, research, use case application, and medicolegal considerations. A key question in the treatment of chronic pain centers around whether or not neuroimaging can be used to predict pain and treatment outcomes. Pain is a product of the brain. There is a clear understanding of the areas of the brain impacted by pain. Brain biomarkers researchers ask, can we turn
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