Pain Management Questions

[Firebird]

In our Behavioral Medicine class, we have chosen to do a presentation on Pain Management Clinics. We are trying to find general information about this subspecialty of Anesthesia. Specific topics we would like to research are:

-common procedures performed in the clinics
-efficacy of the Tx
-billing issues
-the typical route one takes to become a Pain Management Specialist
-salary
-cost of malpractice premiums
-anything else that seems important

If you have this specific information, we'd be grateful for you to post it here. Or if you know of a website we could go to, that would be appreciated, as well!

Thanks a lot!

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[Fusion]

In our Behavioral Medicine class, we have chosen to do a presentation on Pain Management Clinics. We are trying to find general information about this subspecialty of Anesthesia. Specific topics we would like to research are:

-common procedures performed in the clinics
-efficacy of the Tx
-billing issues
-the typical route one takes to become a Pain Management Specialist
-salary
-cost of malpractice premiums
-anything else that seems important

If you have this specific information, we'd be grateful for you to post it here. Or if you know of a website we could go to, that would be appreciated, as well!

Thanks a lot!

I am certainly no expert, as I am still technically a pre-med student (hope to start in the fall). But I have been working as a tech in an interventional pain clinic for about six months now. Some common procedures that the docs perform are epidural steroid injections (cervical, thoracic, and lumbar), facet blocks, sacroiliac joint injections, celiac plexus/hypogastric blocks, ganglion impar blocks, and - my personal favorite - radiofrequency ablations (RFAs). The great majority of these procedures use fluoroscopy to help position the needles before drugs are injected into the desired sight. RFAs actually use radio waves transmitted through probes to heat/burn nerves. The average procedure takes about 15-20 minutes, depending on the physician's technique and level of skill. As far as efficacy of the procedures, much depends on the patient. I have learned that patients who are most motivated to get better are the ones who improve the most. Many patients have one or two procedures done over the course of a month or two and feel better. With other patients, it seems as if they are there almost weekly, scheduling a new procedure and refilling their scripts. Pain management is a year-long fellowship completed after an anesthesiology residency. As far as compensation and malpractice, I am not sure, as I work in a university-affiliated clinic. However, I have heard that Pain Management is a rather lucrative sub-specialty, especially in private practice.

 

[C Fiber]

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Neurology and Psychiatry are also eligible for board certification after 1 year of pain fellowship. Though there is a lot of confusion over "board certification", as demonstrated by the other discussions in the forum. See below:
http://67.43.153.76/showthread.php?t=199526