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Citation |
White RL, Cohen SP. Anesthesiology 2007; 107(6): 1003-1008. |
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Affiliation |
Pain Treatment Center, Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany. |
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Copyright |
(Copyright © 2007, American Society of Anesthesiologists, Publisher Lippincott Williams and Wilkins) |
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DOI |
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PMID |
18043069 |
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Abstract |
BACKGROUND: Non-battle-related injuries and the recurrence of chronic pain are major causes of medical evacuation in wartime. Because a pain medicine specialist may or may not be assigned to a forward-deployed medical unit, the treatment of pain from non-battle-related injuries in war zones is a serendipitous endeavor. Previous studies have demonstrated that the return-to-unit rate for soldiers evacuated to a tertiary care facility for pain management is abysmally low. METHODS: This is a prospective, observational study measuring return-to-duty rates in the first forward-deployed pain treatment center. RESULTS: Over a 6-month period, 132 patients were treated, the large majority (n = 113) of whom were coalition forces. In descending order, the four most common diagnoses among coalition forces were lumbar radiculopathy (n = 63), thoracic pain (n = 13), cervical radiculopathy (n = 8), and groin pain (n = 8). Epidural steroid injections (n = 125) were by far the most frequently performed procedure, followed by trigger point injections (n = 21), lumbar facet blocks (n = 16), and groin blocks (n = 9). Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs were prescribed to 70% of patients, and 24% were referred to physical therapy. The return-to-duty rate for coalition forces was 94.7%. The primary complaint of all 7 patients who required medical evacuation outside the theaters of operation was groin pain. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate the feasibility of obtaining high return-to-duty rates when aggressive pain management strategies are used in forward-deployed areas. Language: en |