Integrative Pain Medicine & Natural Healing
CSU Center for Comparative and Integrative Pain Medicine
Center Overview
Drs. Peter Hellyer and William Horne founded the CSU Center for Comparative Pain Medicine in 2002. They also developed the first course in pain medicine at CSU and participated in the formulation of the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Medicine (IVAPM), located within the CSU College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and serving the veterinary community at large. CSU and the IVAPM share common goals of defining standards of expertise in pain medicine and pushing quality of care and pain relief for animals to new levels.
Faculty involved with establishing the vision and carrying on the mission of the CSU Center for Comparative Pain Medicine collectively agreed to rename the Center in 2007 in order to better reflect the inclusion of non-pharmacologic treatment strategies in the daily operation and study of pain medicine in animals.
Mission Statement
We at the Center for Comparative and Integrative Pain Medicine seek to:
- Provide compassionate, high-quality, patient care, putting patients’ interests first.
- Promote scientific, evidence-based education to veterinarians-in-training as well as to clinicians in practice regarding the pathogenesis, pathophysiology, and successful alleviation of pain..
- Facilitate ongoing collaboration, innovation, and inquiry, leading to advancements designed for the betterment of animal lives and translational benefits for humans in pain.
- Develop learning programs that allow veterinarians to gain technical skill and confidence in the latest pain alleviation techniques.
- Encourage humane research in the study of pain; i.e., not causing pain to study pain.
Goals
The Center will meet its goals through didactic instruction, clinical service, procedural intervention training, and encouraging student and clinician interaction in multidisciplinary rounds and ongoing research.
- Didactic instruction in pain medicine techniques begins in the first year PVM curriculum with lectures on the neurobiology of acupuncture and the activation of in-built pain control mechanisms in the brain. Professional veterinary medicine (PVM) students receive exposure to the principles and practice of pain medicine through groups such as the student chapter of the IVAPM and the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association. A graduate course in comparative pain medicine (VS 680; VS 681) brings together researchers and clinicians from academia and industry in a colloquium format, offering graduate students, PVM students, and faculty the chance to engage with pain medicine experts who reside on the cutting edge of this growing discipline. The Medical Acupuncture for Veterinarians (MAV) continuing education program provides medical acupuncture instruction for veterinarians and fourth-year PVM students -- the only course of its kind in veterinary medicine. Another pioneering course, Medical Massage for Animals, begins this fall.
- Clinical service offers consultations and ongoing care for animals with acute or chronic pain, tailored to meet the needs of the patient and goals of the caregiver. Pain medicine consultations are available for all animals in all specialities and are especially important for patients undergoing cancer treatment, animals with spinal pain or arthritis, post-surgical recovery, geriatric patients, and those suffering from neurologic impairment and spasticity.
- Procedural intervention education includes training in epidural analgesic injection, epidural catheter placement, intra-operative nerve blocks, intravenous and oral analgesic regimens, as well as a variety of non-pharmacologic approaches such as trigger point deactivation, acupuncture, non-invasive laser therapy, massage, manual therapy, nutraceuticals, and phytomedicinals.
- Research involves exploring novel approaches to pain control and relief, including evaluation of the mechanisms of action and efficacy of anti-epileptic agents and non-traditional analgesic compounds, spinal application of C-fiber destructive compounds for terminal cancer pain, the neuroanatomy of acupuncture, the value of an herbal supplement for pain, and the effects of acupuncture on tumor physiology and pain mediators.
Values Statement
At the Center for Comparative and Integrative Pain Medicine, we strive to promote advances in multimodal, interdisciplinary pain medicine and quality of life through innovative, humane, and evidence-based approaches with a research focus on naturally occurring disease.
Vision Statement
We are dedicated to advancing interdisciplinary, integrative, and comprehensive approaches to pain medicine by promoting academic achievement, strong clinical service and teaching. We strive to lead the way in humane pain medicine research, examining methods of analgesia from naturally occurring disease rather than inducing pain in order to study pain.
The Next Generation
As the next generation of students, interns, residents, and fellows moves into private practice and academia, we look toward the day when ongoing pain assessment and management for animals is considered to be part and parcel of veterinary care.
