Essentials of Pain Medicine

Section 1: Basic Considerations

1. Anatomy and Physiology of the Pain Signaling Process

2. Neurochemistry of Somatosensory and Pain Processing

3. Taxonomy: Definition of Pain Terms and Chronic Pain Syndromes

Section 2: Clinical Evaluation and Diagnostic Examinations

4. Physical Examination of the Patient with Pain

5. Pain Assessment

6. Psychological Evaluation and Testing

7. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and Pain Management

8. Neurophysiologic Testing for Pain

9. Anatomy, Imaging and Common Pain-Generating Degenerative Pathologies of the Spine

10. Determination of Disability

Section 3: Perioperative Pain Management

11. Preventive Analgesia

12. Perioperative Nonopioid Infusions for Postoperative Pain Management

13. Patient-Controlled Analgesia

14. Intrathecal Opioid Injections for Postoperative Pain

15. Epidural Opioids for Postoperative Pain

16. Continuous Peripheral Nerve Blocks

17. Pediatric Postoperative Pain

18. Chronic Pain After Surgery

Section 4: Chronic Pain Syndromes

19. Migraine Headache and the Trigeminal Autonomic Cephalalgias (TAC)

20. Tension-Type Headache, Chronic Tension-Type Headache, and Other Chronic Headache Types

21. Postmeningeal Puncture Headache and Spontaneous Intracranial Hypotension

22. Cervicogenic Headache

23. Orofacial Pain

24. Overview of Low Back Pain Disorders

25. Myofascial Pain Syndrome

26. Fibromyalgia and Centralized Pain States

27. Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

28. Herpes Zoster and Postherpetic Neuralgia

29. Postamputation Pain

30. Central Pain States

31. Pelvic Pain

32. Painful Peripheral Neuropathies

33. Entrapment Neuropathies

Section 5: Cancer Pain and Pain in Special Situations

34. Approach to Management of Cancer Pain

35. Management of Pain at End of Life

36. Pain Management in the Emergency Department

37. Chronic Pain Management in Children and Adolescents

38. Sickle Cell Pain

39. Pain Management During Pregnancy and Lactation

40. Pain Control in the Critically Ill Patient

41. Geriatric Pain

Section 6: Pharmacology and Pharmacologic Modalities

42. Major Opioids and Pain Management

43. Opioids Used for Mild to Moderate Pain

44. The Prescription Drug Abuse Epidemic and Emerging Prescribing Guidelines

45. Legal and Regulatory Issues in Pain Management

46. Urine Drug Testing

47. Substance Use Disorders and Detoxification

48. Psychopharmacology for Pain Medicine

49. Membrane Stabilizers

50. Recommendations for Pharmacological Therapy of Neuropathic Pain

51. Nonopioid Analgesics: NSAIDs, COX-2 Inhibitors, and Acetaminophen

52. Intravenous Infusions for Refractory Cancer and Chronic Pain States

53. Pharmacologic Management of Myofascial Pain

54. Pharmacologic Management of CRPS

55. Pharmacology for the Interventional Pain Physician

56. Role of Cannabinoids in Pain Management

Section 7: Therapeutic Interventions

57. Ablative Neurosurgical Procedures for Treatment of Chronic Pain

58. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Approaches to Pain Management

59. Psychological Interventions for Chronic Pain

60. Acupuncture

61. Tai Chi and Chronic Pain

Section 8: Interventional Techniques for Pain Management

62. Interlaminar Epidural Steroid Injections for Lumbosacral Radicular Pain

63. Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injections and Selective Nerve Root Blocks

64. ANTI TNF – α Drugs and DMARDs for Low Back Pain

65. Facet Syndrome

66. Sacroiliac Joint Syndrome

67. Piriformis Syndrome

68. Pulsed Radiofrequency, Water-Cooled Radiofrequency, and Cryoneurolysis

69. Discography

70. Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty

71. Neurolytic Sympathetic Blocks

72. Central and Peripheral Neurolysis

73. Spinal Cord Stimulation

74. Peripheral Nerve Stimulation

75. Dorsal Root Ganglion Stimulation

76. Implanted Drug Delivery Systems for the Control of Chronic Pain

77. Fluoroscopy and Radiation Safety

78. Efficacy of Interventional Procedures for Neuropathic Pain

Section 9: Other Nerve Blocks in Pain Medicine

79. Ultrasound-Guided Procedures for Pain Management

80. Deep Muscle Injections: Piriformis, Scalene Muscle, Iliposoas Injections

81. Ultrasound-Guided Musculoskeletal Injections--Shoulder, Hip, and Knee

82. Head and Neck Blocks

83. Truncal Blocks: Intercostal, Paravertebral, Interpleural, Tap, Suprascapular, Ilioinguinal, and Iliohypogastric Nerve Blocks

84. Sympathetic Blocks: Stellate Ganglion, Lumbar Sympathetic Blocks, and Visceral Sympathetic Blocks -- Fluoroscopy and Ultrasound-Guided

85. Interventional Pain Procedures in Patients on Anticoagulants

86. Interventional Pain Procedures and the Risk of Infection