American Society of Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine
Annual Fall Pain Meeting & Workshops

November 13-16, 2003
Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina
San Diego, CA

Objectives

Parallel Sessions

Parallel Session 1: Basic science update - Persistent pain mechanisms: Treatments on the horizon
Moderator: James C. Eisenach, MD

• Update new spinal pharmacotherapy for persistent pain.
• Discuss side effects and complications of long-term spinal pharmacotherapy for persistent pain.
• Review the importance of substance P and spinal pathways
• Examine spinal and supraspinal contributions

Parallel Session 2: Acute pain management and opiate tolerance: Clinical significance
Moderator: Timothy J. Brennan, MD, PhD

• Discuss the problems associated with acute pain management in the opioid tolerant patient
• Discuss acute pain management in the opiate tolerant patient-goals and objectives
• Examine human studies on acute opioid tolerance and pain
• Discuss opioid tolerance and mechanisms for persistent pain

Parallel Session 3: Imaging in pain medicine
Moderator: James P. Rathmell, MD

• Discuss the role of injection therapy in the diagnosis and management of spine-related pain from the surgeon's perspective.
• Review the techniques and clinical outcomes associated with use of x-ray guided injection techniques in treating painful disorders of the spine.
• Describe the controversy surrounding provocative discography as a diagnostic test and expert opinion about its current role in managing discogenic low back pain.
• Discuss the advantages and application for computed tomographic-guided injections.

Parallel Session 4: Rehabilitation of the chronic pain patient
Moderator: Douglas G. Merrill, MD

• At the completion of this parallel session, participants will have an improved understanding of the role of physical therapy and other modalities in the treatment of patients with myofascial pain and pain associated with cancer. As well, rationale and practical strategies will be given to aid the participant in gaining approval for multi-disciplinary care of their patients with chronic pain, including PT, behavioral health, occupational therapy, and other modalities. When finished, the participants should have a better understanding of some of the alternative therapies to which their patients in chronic pain subscribe, which might have value and any impact they might have on the "mainstream" therapies applied in chronic pain.

Parallel Session 5: Controversies in pain management: IDET vs. Surgical Diskectomy
Moderator: Nagy Mekhail, MD, PhD
Robert McLain, MD

• To discuss the indications for IDET and surgical diskectomies based on outcomes studies; to determine the ideal, intermediate and poor candidates for each of the procedures; and to present outcome data for each of the procedures.

Parallel Session 6: Celiac plexus and superior hypogastric blocks: Outcomes and relevance
Moderator: Daniel B. Carr, MD
Gilbert Y. Wong, MD, Allen Burton, MD

• To discuss the different approaches used to block abdominal visceral nociception; to determine the efficacy of neurolysis of the sympathetic axis in patients with malignancies limited to visceral structures of the abdomen and those with evidence of locally advanced tumors; and to present information on the advantages of early versus late neurolysis.

Parallel Session 7: Cancer pain management
Moderator: Mark J. Lema, MD, PhD
Oscar A. de Leon-Casasola, MD

• To present the new developments in pharmacological therapy for cancer pain management. To discuss the procedures and indications for invasive procedures in the treatment of cancer pain.

Parallel Session 8: Pelvic pain management
Moderator: Timothy J. Ness, MD, PhD
Ursulla Wesselmann, MD

• To briefly discuss the physiopathology of chronic pelvic pain in humans, to present the alternative therapies for the management of pelvic pain in both men and women, and to analyze the success rates of each of the available therapies.