MRCEE: Pain Management and Opioid Safety in the MHS

May 04, 2018 08:00am -
May 04, 2018 12:00pm
(GMT-5)
Ft Belvoir USO

Event Type: Membership
Category: Regional Seminar

Speaker Information

Moderator:
LTC Joseph R. Yancey, DHA J-3 – Army-Baylor Administrative Resident

COL Richard C. Niemtzow,  USAF, MC (ret), MD, PhD, MPH, FS Director,  US Air Force Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine Center, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland
This presentation talks about the major clinical problems for pain and the introduction of alternative medicine especially in the military. One particular alternative medicine, acupuncture, has a close relationship to Western medicine and physiology. Acupuncture is shown to have limited usefulness as per the NIH Consensus Conference in 1997. The classical description of this 5,000 year-old Chinese medicine and its mechanisms are now described by Western science and physiology. A discussion of the Primo Vascular System is one theory of how the acupuncture meridians and points are organized and may even exist. Battlefield Acupuncture (BFA) invented by Niemtzow is delineated and functional MRI studies are detailed. The use of semi-permanent needles is explained. Stimulation of BFA points produces an increase in oxygen in brain as researched by Prof Litscher. What are the clinical implications? The clinical results of patients and pain treated by BFA and its impact on military missions and the opioid crisis are discussed. Why is acupuncture the next generation of high tech medicine?  A list of some BFA trials and other publications are discussed. Differences of acupuncture practiced in China and the USA are illustrated. Two interesting cases dealing with patients at Malcolm Grow are presented. Finally, how can acupuncture be successfully used in the dental clinic?

Learning Objectives:

Ÿ The Concepts of Acupuncture: Old and New
Ÿ Battlefield Acupuncture as a Generic Treatment for Pain Relief
Ÿ Application of Acupuncture in the Clinic

COL Chester (Trip) Buckenmaier III, MC, USA (ret), MD Director, Defense & Veterans Center for Integrative Pain Management (DVCIPM), Professor Anesthesiology, Uniformed Services University
Although neither current DoDIs nor accreditation body standards specify what tool should be used to assess pain, the Pain Management Task Force 2010 highly recommends that the MHS integrate a revised pain assessment tool that would provide additional insight into the impact of pain, beyond what information was provided with the standard 11 point, 0‐10 Visual Analog Scale. Current assessments fail to measure impact of pain on critical indicators such as sleep, activity, mood, and stress. They tend to focus the patient‐provider goal of a pain level of zero out of ten on the pain scale, with little discussion on maximizing function. The DoD/VA jointly developed and validated the Defense and Veterans Pain Rating Scale (DVPRS). DVPRS has been integrated into clinical practice in pain specialty clinics across the MHS. Additional DVPRS validation studies were published in 2015. This presentation will discuss the history and importance of DVPRS implementation within the MHS.
Learning Objectives:

Ÿ Describe the opioid epidemic and federal medicine risk
Ÿ Define the DVPRS and why it is novel
Ÿ Describe why pain measurement is critical to pain management 

MAJ Laura Tilley, ER Physician at Fort Belvoir 

LTC Sharon L. Rosser, DScPA, PA-C Army Comprehensive Pain Management Program Manager

Presenters may be subject to substitution or addition