Treating pain, a challenge for the 21st century healthcare system
Chronicity and longer life expectancy make pain and its treatments a challenge for the healthcare system in the 21st century.
How to deal with chronic pain and how to manage increasingly expensive treatments were the central themes of the XII MIVI Instituto Aliaga – Clínica del Dolor Teknon Scientific Conference. The scientific event brought together various specialists in this field who presented and discussed the latest advances in this disease. .
The conference, now in its twelfth edition, brought together different specialists to discuss the latest advances in the treatment of pain, a disease which, according to Dr. Antoni Montero, affects 10 million people in Spain. Specialists from various fields of medicine, anesthesiologists, neurosurgeons, traumatologists and internists, among others, have attended, interested in new techniques to tackle pain, alleviate people’s suffering and, therefore, improve their quality of life.
The first part dealt with the sustainability of the system, the right of patients to information and shared medical records. The guests discussed how to cover therapies whose cost is increasingly higher, with the participation of Mr. Antonio Jiménez, Territorial Director of Axa Seguros, Dr. Francisco Juán, General Director of DKV and Dr. Francesc García, Director of the TIC Salut Foundation, in a round table moderated by Dr. Ricard Araujo, General Director of the Aliaga Institute. On the table a controversial but necessary topic: the shared medical history, a tool that significantly improves the care of citizens, anywhere and by any specialist. All the speakers agreed that technology now makes it easy.
Subsequently, we focused on the therapeutic options for the treatment of pain in complex pathologies. For Dr. Oller, a cadiologist at Institut Sant Jordi, refractory angina pain is a challenge for cardiology and pain specialists. Dr. Vallejo, Scientific Director of the Institute, presented neurostimulation as a possible therapeutic option. Dr. Mayoral, Medical Director of the same institution, spoke of a minimally invasive approach to vertebral fractures, common in people with osteoporosis and bone metastases.
The last round table focused on the rationalization of pharmacological pain therapies and how to optimize them. In this sense, Dr. Ojeda spoke about the controversial use of opioids for non-oncological treatment, Dr. Català, Director of the Pain Clinic of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, explained what happens in our brain when pain goes from acute to chronic and Dr. Antonio Montero, Director of the Anesthesiology and Pain Therapy Service of the Hospital Arnau de Vilanova, about analgesic combinations to treat chronic acute pain.
The event ended with speeches by Dr. Araujo, Dr. Mayoral, Dr. Vallejo and Dr. Català, who stressed the importance of conferences such as this one, which aim to seek innovative solutions that help professionals to alleviate people’s pain and, ultimately, improve their quality of life. To this end, working in multidisciplinary teams in centers specialized in the treatment of pain and scientific conferences where the latest advances in this field can be shared is key.