Wednesday | February 24, 2021

If you've put off or skipped needed medical care during the COVID-19 pandemic, you've got plenty of company.

Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine protects against COVID-19, according to an analysis by U.S. regulators Wednesday that sets the stage for a final decision on a new and easier-to-use shot to help tame the pandemic.

First Executive Vice-President: Salahadin Abdi, MD, PhD

Second Executive Vice-President: Christopher Gharibo, MD

Vice President-Strategic Affairs: Mahendra Sanapati, MD

Secretary: Annu Navani, MD

Treasurer: Devi Nampiaparampil, MD

Directors-at-Large: Deborah Tracy, MD | Ricardo Buenaventura, MD | Steve Aydin, DO 

Academic Directors: Kenneth Candido, MD | Joshua Hirsch, MD | Vanila Singh, MD

Young Physician Directors: Helen Blake, MD | Kunj Patel, MD | Kartic Rajput, MD

Resident/Fellow Board Member: Allan Parr, III

Directors Emeritus: Peter Staats, MD | Sudhir Diwan, MD

23^rd ASIPP Annual Meeting - Register Today!

ASIPP is working to make the program highly relevant for our changing healthcare system and environment. We will also bring you cutting-edge lectures on exciting new technology, world-renowned speakers, and much, much more. Registration is now open. Topics will include: COVID-19, economics, burnout, social media, metabolic health, regulatory issues, scientific advances in IPM, and much more! 

Mark your calendars, book your room and click here to register!

Pain Medicine Case Reports (PMCR) and Editor-in-Chief Alaa Abd-Elsayed, MD, PhD would like to invite you to submit case reports and case series to PMCR journal. Your article will be published free of charge.

Editorial board members are asked to review 2-6 manuscripts per year. Please submit your most up-to-date CV to sgold@asipp.org for consideration.

For more information or to submit your articles, click here.

Background: Stellate ganglion block is an option for refractory ventricular tachyarrhythmia. Approaches include using anatomical landmarks or image-guidance with fluoroscopy, computerized tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, or ultrasonography.

Case Report: We describe a case of a 70-year-old man with multiple comorbidities presenting with sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT) who received a cervical sympathetic chain block at bedside. This resulted in ablation of his refractory VT and return to a paced rhythm, allowing him to be discharged from the intensive care unit.

ASIPP^® is pleased to announce the publication of the Comprehensive Evidence-Based Guidelines for Epidural Interventions in the Management of Chronic Spinal Pain. In preparation of the guidelines, an extensive literature review was performed. The 210-page guidelines contains 33 figures, 48 tables, 1,345 references and has 60 authors.

Background: Since the late 1940s, corticosteroids have been a mainstay class of agents in multiple interventional techniques and intra-articular injections. Exogenous glucocorticoids are structurally and pharmacologically similar to the endogenous hormones. As such, multiple actions of corticosteroids are exhibited, including those of anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects. Epidural injections, with or without steroids, have been extensively used throughout the world. There are reports of epidural injections starting in 1901, with steroids being added to the local anesthetic since 1952, when steroids were administered into the sacral foramen.

Purpose: Due to the extensive side effects of steroids in various injections, some have proposed limiting their use in epidurals and intraarticular injections. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the multiple side effects of the steroids have elevated the level of concern and recommendations have been made to utilize local anesthetic alone or the lowest dose of steroids. Fashioned from common expressions of the day, the term "steroid distancing" began to be used and proposed for intraarticular injections of the knee. Consequently, we sought to evaluate the evidence and feasibility of steroid distancing in interventional pain management.

Background: A primary concern in the use of EBP in these patients is the possibility of seeding the virus in the CNS. Another important concern is related to the known hypercoagulable state in COVID-19 positive patients and associated organ dysfunction that may alter the metabolism of anticoagulants. The safety of the providers performing the EBP, the position of the patient and choices for image guidance (blind, fluoroscopic) are also key considerations to review. It is also important to explore the current state of knowledge about using allogenic instead of autologous blood as well as emerging techniques to eliminate the coronavirus from the blood.

Objectives: In this article we pose the questions of how to manage PDPH in the COVID-19 positive patient and more specifically, the use of epidural blood patch (EBP).

Last week, the CDC announced results showing that when dummy heads were fitted with a cloth mask over a surgical mask, or when a surgical mask had a knot tied near the corner of the mouth, more particulates were captured when the head emitted an aerosol from its plastic mouthpiece during a simulated cough than were captured by a surgical mask alone.

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Over the weekend, Dan Diamond for the Washington Post reported that Vivek Murthy, MD, nominated for Surgeon General and to help the Biden COVID-19 response, received 2.6 million dollars in pandemic consulting fees and speaking engagements since January 2020. Murthy received $400,000 from Carnival cruise lines for consulting, over $400,000 in cash and another $400,000 worth of stock from Airbnb, nearly $300,000 from Estee Lauder, and $600,000 from Netflix. The article notes, "most of Murthy's consulting work came after Biden effectively cinched the Democratic nomination in April 2020, after rival Sen. Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race, and he was sometimes touted in speeches as a Biden adviser."

Throw Away Your Mask After COVID Vaccination?

The caveats - It is important to be upfront with the caveats. Everything I say applies to average people in the community -- I am not speaking about enhanced precautions in high-risk settings like nursing homes or medical centers. My argument is contingent on there being no "vaccine escape," that is, no mutation in the coronavirus that markedly reduces vaccine efficacy. If that happens, may God help us. I am not sure we will make it.

After reading the 2021 Abstracts & Poster Presentations guidelines, please complete the form along with the presenter's CV by clicking here. Questions can be directed to Savannah Gold at 270-554-9412 x 4219 or sgold@asipp.org.

Click here for Abstract and Poster Presentation Submission Guidelines

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ASIPP Collaboration with NORCAL Medical Liability Program a Continued Success

Norcal Mutual is 'A' Rated by AM best and is license in all 50 states. To read a few important points to keep in mind about the program, including discounts, administrative defense, cyber coverage, aggressive claims handling, and complimentary award-winning risk management CME activities, click here.

Norcal Mutual is 'A' Rated by AM best and is license in all 50 states. To read a few important points to keep in mind about the program, including discounts, administrative defense, cyber coverage, aggressive claims handling, and complimentary award-winning risk management CME activities, click here.