Now there's a resource for physicians to help patients suffering from chronic pain. At Danville Regional Medical Center's Pain Referral Center, our staff evaluates and coordinates treatment for patients with chronic pain conditions. The staff determines the source of patients' discomfort and helps them effectively manage and overcome pain. The goal is to reduce patients' dependence on drugs and help them return to a normal level of functioning through alternative methods.

As specialists in managing pain, the Pain Referral Center partners with the Patient's physicians to improve the patient's health. The staff coordinates patient care in cooperation with the referring physician. To keep the lines of communication open, copies of the initial evaluation and follow-up visits are forwarded to the patient's referring and primary care physicians. From the first phone call to the patient's final visit, the staff is available for physicians to call and discuss the patient's condition.

After the initial consultation, treatment goals are developed with these objectives in mind:

• Manage medication with the goal of eliminating or decreasing the patient's need for narcotics, sedatives and other potentially addictive medications.
  
  
• Identify psychiatric conditions and psycho-social stressors and refer for treatment.
  
  
• Increase physical work capacity through exercise programs and referral for physical therapy treatment.
  
  
• Implement selective nerve blocks for diagnostic identification of specific pain syndromes.
  
  
• Eliminate pain transmission along specific nerve paths by administering neurolytic nerve blocks.
  
  
• Manage consultations for diagnostic or therapeutic treatment in other specialities.
  
  
• Refer patients who do not respond to treatment to alternative treatment modalities.
  

When a physician calls to refer a patient, the clinic's staff obtains the patient's information and arranges for a records transfer and financial clearance. Patients are scheduled according to their treatment need - whether they need a treatment block, a full consultation or both.

To begin the investigative process, new patients complete a detailed questionnaire related to their pain condition. This information guides the search for the source of discomfort. During the initial evaluation, the patient and pain history are thoroughly examined for a medical condition or disease that might be causing the pain. After determining needs, the patient can be referred to a network of specialists. For example, physical therapists can help the patient increase mobility, or a psychologist may help the patient deal with the emotional aspects of the pain. Throughout the treatment program, the patient is carefully monitored.

Successful treatment requires a comprehensive approach involving the patient and family, the referring physician, and a network of specialists. With the resources of Danville Regional Medical Center readily available, the Pain Referral Center can alleviate the burden of coordinating care - and relieve the patient's discomfort.

• severe pain behavior
• unidentifiable source of pain lasting six months or longer
• impaired functional status or perceived functional impairment
• disability perception
• discrepancy in perceptions between physician and patient with chronic pain or ability to function
• drug abuse, dependence or addiction
• psychopathology associated with chronic pain
• failed back surgery syndrome
• chronic pain sufferer who refuses or is denied surgery
• myofascial pain syndrome and fibromyalgia
• psychogenic pain
• failure of conservative management
• failure of an isolated mode of treatment