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New Procedure Revolutionizes Battlefield Approach to Pain

Despite tremendous advances in battlefield medical treatment, pain management has changed very little since the Civil War, with morphine being the primary medication used for pain control. Today, with an unprecedented number of wounded personnel surviving their injuries, managing pain has become a major issue for military health care providers.

Now, an acute pain specialist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) is spearheading a movement to transform the military's approach to pain. Lieutenant Colonel Chester "Trip" Buckenmaier, III, M.D., chief of the Army Regional Anesthesia & Pain Management Initiative (ARAPMI) and president of the tri-service Military Advanced Regional Anesthesia and Analgesia (MARAA) initiative, is pioneering the use of an anesthetic technique for new applications in the battlefield environment.

Buckenmaier and his colleagues are focused on finding and implementing the most effective methods of relieving acute pain from combat trauma. This comprehensive approach makes use of many pain relief techniques, from traditional opioids to continuous nerve blocks and multimodal drug therapy. One method in particular has garnered a lot of attention, in large part because of its unprecedented battlefield results.

Nerve Blocks Transform Pain Management

General anesthesia suppresses the activity of the central nervous system and requires a lot of equipment and constant monitoring by a trained specialist. When the anesthesia wears off, patients often have to take large doses of narcotics to control the pain. These drugs aren't always completely effective, occasionally leaving patients in uncontrolled pain.

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