This webinar is an AAOS member benefit!

AAOS members attend for free.

If you are unable to attend the live webinar, you may still register to be notified upon the availability of the recorded session. Access to the recording will be granted for a duration of 2 years.

Please note: The webinar has been rescheduled to Tuesday, November 5th.

Description: Many state medical boards require training in safe and effective alleviation of pain and optimal opioid stewardship. This update of a prior webinar series provides orthopedic surgery-specific evidence and strategies  for safe and effective alleviation of pain. Part 3 addresses alleviation of pain. The important distinction here is between specific and nonspecific effects of an intervention. Specific effects are due directly to alterations in the pathophysiology targeted by the treatment. Nonspecific effects are not related to changes in pathophysiology. Nonspecific effects include placebo and nocebo effects (meaning or context effects), regression to the mean, and the self-limiting course of many symptom episodes. When an intervention seems to alleviate pain for a much longer duration than it’s physiological effect, that is a long-term nonspecific effect that can be summarized as “accommodation.” To weigh the potential benefits against the potential harms of an intervention, it’s important to have experimental evidence establishing specific effects of the intervention, a measure of the magnitude of the specific effects, and a measure of the actual and potential harms including psychological and financial harms in addition to iatrogenic harms. A patient’s decision to use or not use specific intervention on offer for safe and effective alleviation of pain can be based on the evidence regarding specific and nonspecific effects of the intervention along with these actual and potential harms

Learning Objectives: 

1. Recognize the difference between specific and nonspecific effects of an intervention for alleviation of pain.
2. Consider long-term nonspecific effects and avoid crediting those to the intervention.
3. Strategize effective pain alleviation techniques based on the evidence for specific effects, their magnitude and duration, and the associated potential harms.

Director: David Ring, MD, PhD., FAAOS

Faculty: Julie Adams, MD, FAAOS, Teun Teunis, MD, Ryan Calfee, MD, FAAOS

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education (CME) for physicians. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.