Using neurosurgical solutions to manage chronic pain

Back pain is one of the most common ailments chronic pain patients face. For some, a neurosurgical approach can offer much relief and may be an alternative to long-term opioid therapy. Here ’s what one neurosurgeon and member of the AMA Task Force to Reduce Prescription Opioid Abuse had to say about treating patients with chronic pain and the Task Force’s efforts to end the opioid overdose epidemic.Treating chronic back pain in neurosurgery Jennifer Sweet, MD, is a neurosurgeon at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland and the physician representative for the American Association of Neurological Surgeons on the AMATask Force to Reduce Prescription Opioid Abuse. Dr. Sweet sees patients with chronic pain who have what is called failed back surgery syndrome.“When patients are referred to me they’ve had big spine fusions and they’re still not getting better,” she said. “If patients don’t tolerate systemic opioids, or if high-dose opioids still don’t manage their pain, then I can offer another option. Interventions such as intrathecal pain pumps can provide the pain relief patients need, without all the side effects of systemic opioids.“While this has traditionally been reserved for patients with cancer pain,” she said, “we are now realizing the potential benefit for chronic pain patients without terminal disease.” The intrathecal pain pump delivers opioids locally to the area where the patient is experience pain through the spinal fluid....
Source: AMA Wire - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Source Type: news