Pain Management Consultants can make specific pain diagnoses for patients. They can advise and prescribe safe, effective and efficient use of pain medicines, including drugs that could cause addiction. In the UK, pain management medicine is a sub-specialism provided by the Royal College of Anaesthetics, therefore, most Anaesthetic Consultants have also been trained in pain management. They manage the treatment of pain, work collaboratively with supportive and palliative care teams, as well as provide key leadership and education across professions involved in pain management. They provide pain interventional techniques where appropriate and receive specialised training in techniques to manage complex pain not responsive to initial management1.
Treatments
The first avenue of treatment involves prescribing medication for pain management, e.g. anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxants and anti-depressants. Patients can also receive injections that numb pain, e.g. nerve blocks and spinal injections. A transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator (TENS) is specialist equipment that uses skin pads to deliver low-voltage electrical current to the painful areas. If these treatments are unsuccessful, stronger medications will be prescribed or more advanced procedures may be carried out to help with pain management, this could involve procedures such as viscosupplementation or RFA (radiofrequency ablation). RFA is usually performed in chronic pain cases, and it involves applying chemicals or heat to the affected nerves to stop the pain signals to the brain. Viscosupplementation involves injecting fluids into joints to help with arthritis pain. If the patient is still suffering, stem cell treatment, the implementation of a spinal cord stimulator or pain pump at the spinal cord may be considered2.
Training Required
Consultants in Pain Management undertake specialised pain medicine training as a subspecialty of anaesthesia, overseen by the Faculty of Pain Medicine. This robust training scheme includes basic, intermediate, higher and advanced training periods (the latter normally comprising of a 12-month clinical training placement). Trainees are expected to achieve a number of clinical competencies and sufficient knowledge to pass a speciality examination in order to achieve a Fellowship of the Faculty of Pain Medicine. This training uniquely equips them with the knowledge and skills to evaluate, diagnose and manage all types of pain3.
What is a Consultant in Pain Management Expert Witness?
Pain Management and Chronic Pain Experts are involved in a lot of personal injury and clinical negligence cases, meaning that consultants in pain management are in high demand. Pain can come from all parts of the body including acute, chronic and cancer pain. Pain Management Consultant Expert Witnesses can be involved in lots of different types of cases, ranging from whiplash to more complex chronic pain cases including CRPS. They provide expertise on cases where there may not necessarily be a robust diagnosis, causation and prognosis and that difference is heavily reflected in the report findings/opinion.
Looking for a Pain Management Expert Witness?
We have a multitude of Pain Management Consultant Expert Witnesses available. Their specialties include pain syndromes, including, complex regional pain, pain areas including spinal and neuropathic pain, spinal cord stimulation, multidisciplinary pain management, arthritic pain, cancer-related pain, pain following injury i.e. road traffic accidents resulting in whiplash, accidents at work, trigeminal neuralgia and headaches.
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