Our discussion of pain will begin by discussing outpatient pain management. This is a huge topic that you will absolutely encounter in every practice setting. Below are the usual learning objectives and videos for this week.
Learning Objectives
1) Design a safe, effective, and evidence based analgesic strategy that incorporates pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic modalities and takes into consideration the setting, type of pain, anticipated pain trajectory, and other patient specific factors
2) Differentiate the types of pain (nociceptive, visceral, somatic, neuropathic, hyperalgesia, allodynia)
3) Design a medication regimen that is likely to be effective against the type of pain being experienced
4) Identify the component of the pain pathway impacted by different pharmacologic agents (NSAIDs, opioids, local anesthetics, TCAs, SNRIs, anticonvulsants)
5) Develop an assessment strategy that incorporates functional, psychiatric, trauma, psychosocial, sleep, and medication related assessments
6) Design a non-pharmacologic pain "regimen" that incorporates an anti-inflammatory diet, tobacco cessation, weight reduction, exercise, sleep hygiene, cognitive behavioral therapy, psychotherapy, and other non-pharmacologic methods as appropriate
7) Develop a monitoring plan and set appropriate goals of treatment given a patient scenario
8) Understand the concept of multimodal analgesic therapy
9) Explain the role of TCAs, SNRIs, and certain antiepileptic drugs in the management of specific types of pain
10) Identify the advantages and disadvantages of various analgesic agents