Pain Management Medical
Group
University of California San
Diego
9300 Campus Point Drive
La Jolla CA 92037-7650
Phone: 858-657-6035
Fax: 838-657-6037
Mission Statement
The mission of the UCSD Pain Management
and Research group is to provide a
multidisciplinary inpatient and outpatient pain
service devoted to the highest level of
individualized patient care; to create awareness
among faculty, residents, and affiliated staff of
the services, provided by the Pain Management
Group; and to improve understanding of the
mechanisms of pain through quality, peerreviewed research into the physiology,
pharmacology, and molecular biology of
nociceptive processing.
Patient Care
Pain is a primary problem in clinical
medicine. Three of four patients seek the help
of a physician because of pain. Over 60% of the
1.6 million patients who have cancer will have
pain as a major clinical problem. Back pain is
the number one reason for lost job time in the
United States and accounts for over 8 billion
health care dollars annually. This complexity
and pervasiveness has led over the last 10
years to the growing realization of the need for
specific clinical efforts and targeted research
focused on the problems presented by pain and
its management.
Pain states often reflect a complex
syndrome with a variety of underlying
mechanisms. Accordingly, it is necessary to be
able to address the complexity with a spectrum
of approaches ranging from the least to the most
interventional, as defined and required by the
optimal plan for patient care.
Pain Service provides a wide range of
therapeutic and diagnostic techniques in pain
management. These include medical
management of pain patients ranging from
simple acute pain problems such as
postoperative or trauma pain to patients with full
blown chronic pain syndromes such as back
pain, cancer, post nerve injury pain states (e.g.,
causalgia, reflex sympathetic dystrophy),
diabetic neuropathy and post-herpetic neuralgia.
The physical therapy department at
UCSD medical Center is utilized for rehabilitative
treatment.
Education
Pain Service is dedicated to educating
the clinical faculty and the training of the basic
scientists with the problems associated with
clinical pain states and its management. The
department enjoys a significantly high level of
national and international reputation.
The centerpiece of the training program
is the weekly “Pain Didactic”. The didactic is
widely attended by University and community
based clinicians, fellows, residents, and basic
scientists.
The anesthesiology Research Group
and the Peripheral Neuropathy Group conduct
weekly lectures that reflect current research and
thinking on issues pertinent to the physiology
and pharmacology of pain processing.
Pain Research
Research in the UCSD Pain Management and
Research Group reflects upon an aggressive
investigational effort at understanding the
physiology, pharmacology, and molecular
biology of pain processing in pre-clinical and
clinical models. The efforts are characterized by
peer-reviewed investigations that are completely
supported by NIH grants and extramural
contracts. This high and continued level of
competitive extramural funding is one indication
of the quality of this work.
We conduct all phases of research, focusing on
the following: back pain, cancer pain, and
neuropathic pain. We have recently received
approval for a study in acupuncture.
Our current research studies include:
http://painservice.ucsd.edu/research (LINK WILL
INCLUDE BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF STUDY
AND HOW TO CONTACT US IF INTERESTED)
Staff
The staff is comprised of three
fellowship-trained, board certified,
anesthesiologists with American Board of
Anesthesiology added qualifications in Pain
Management; two Pain fellows; a nurse
practitioner, a nurse case manager, one
registered nurse, and rotating anesthesiology
residents. A psychologist who specializes in
pain patients and a neurosurgeon who has subspecialized in the invasive treatment of pain are
available for regular consultation.
http://painservice.ucsd.edu/(THIS WILL
INCLUDE A LISTING OF STAFF MEMBERS
AND CREDENTIALS)
Facility Location
The Pain Clinic is located on the second floor of
UCSD Thornton Hospital. Adjacent to the
University and Medical School, the hospital is
easily accessible by public transportation and
car. Parking at Thornton Hospital is free with
patient validation.