The division of Pain Medicine has long been established as an integral part of the department of Anesthesiology. The division hosts the ACGME accredited multidisciplinary pain fellowship. The division works closely with disciplines of orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, palliative care, oncology, rheumatology, and neurology to provide multidisciplinary pain care to patients in the state of Oklahoma. The pain clinic sees over 250 patients a month and performs a wide variety of interventional pain procedures at our state-of-the-art fluoroscopy suite in Edmond Medical Center. The division of pain medicine is involved in contributing to the field of pain medicine through clinical trials, publications in peer reviewed journals, mentorship for residents and medical students as well as educational opportunities for patients in the surrounding area.
Our pain fellowship accepts one fellow per year from the fields of anesthesiology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, neurology or psychiatry. The pain fellowship is comprised of multidisciplinary pain faculty from fellowship trained pain medicine, neurology, and neurosurgery. Our fellow rotates through the pain clinic as their primary site with additional sites including the VA medical center for palliative care and addiction medicine, Norman Regional for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, with further rotations in neurosurgery spine and neurology. Our fellows finish the fellowship well equipped for practicing in either academic or the private practice setting. Throughout the fellowship year, there are opportunities for attending cadaver courses organized by pain societies and device companies to gain exposure to the novel therapies evolving in the field of pain medicine.
During the pain medicine rotation, the anesthesiology resident gains exposure to all aspects of pain medicine relevant to the practice of anesthesiology. There are weekly dedicated lectures which focus on ACGME required topics. Biweekly, there is emphasis on learning fluoroscopic and needle manipulation skills as part of interventional pain procedures.
Therapies offered by our pain clinic include the following but are not limited to:
- Cervical, thoracic, lumbar and sacral injections
- Ablation therapies for malignant and non malignant pain syndromes
- Vertebral augmentation
- Neuromodulation
- Peripheral Nerve Blockade and stimulation
- Cancer Pain Management
The pain division strive to provide world class care to our patients and are constantly looking for ideas to improve our mission and goals. We are proud to serve the Oklahoma patient population and feel grateful that we are able to make a difference in the lives of our patients.