Breakfast Sessions

Boston Scientific Session

Pfizer Breakfast Session

Hospira Breakfast Session

Grunenthal Breakfast Session

Innovation focused on pain relief

Date: Monday 18 March

Time: 7.30am - 8.30am

Investing in innovative products, clinical initiatives, and world-class service, Boston Scientific is committed to leading the way in spinal cord stimulation by providing better pain relief to a broad range of patients.

Topic: Innovation Focused on Pain Relief 
Presented by Mr Brad Hershey
Principal Research Scientist Boston Scientific Neuromodulation

Topic: Model Based Advanced Programming Control
Presented by Dr Dongchul Lee
Principal Research Scientist for Boston Scientific Neuromodulation

Topic: Clinical Outcomes Spectra
Presented by Dr Paul Verrills
Musculoskeletal Physician

Neuropathic Pain Update: from mechanism to management

Date: Monday 18 March

Time: 7.30am - 8.30am

In the past decade there has been an increase in the understanding of the multiple mechanisms responsible for the development of neuropathic pain. It is important to review the basic science behind current treatment options especially since clinically more than 50% of patients will require multiple medications, each targeting a different pain mechanism. This talk aims to review the pharmacology (including drug to drug interactions) of today’s most commonly prescribed medications and the impact drug selection has on pain pathways.

The presentation will address the importance of a collaborative team management approach to help reduce chronic neuropathic pain.

The presentation objectives include: • Understand the mechanisms involved in neuropathic pain • Review the pharmacology of current neuropathic pain medications • Examine possible drug-to-drug interactions of neuropathic pain medications • Discuss the current management of neuropathic pain • Discuss the impact of pharmacology on the long term management of chronic neuropathic pain.

Professor Robert Helme

Professor Robert Helme PhD, FRACP, FFPMANZCA graduated from Monash University in 1969. He gained a PhD from Monash in 1974. He then trained in Clinical Neurology at the Massachusetts General Hospital.  He returned from the US to the Department of Medicine at Monash University, and then became Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Melbourne and Director of the National Ageing Research Institute in Parkville in 1987. His most recent Public Hospital appointment was Director, Department of Neurology, Western Health, Melbourne. His research expertise has been gained mostly in the area of pain measurement and management, especially as it affects older people. He has participated in international multicentre trials of treatment for pain, dementia and stroke. He has also undertaken medicolegal work for over ten years in his areas of clinical expertise. He has published over three hundred and fifty papers as chapters, peer reviewed publications and abstracts. His current appointments are as Honorary Professorial Associate in the Department of Medicine, Royal Melbourne Hospital, University of Melbourne, and Consultant Neurologist, Epworth Hospital, Melbourne.

Local Anaesthetic use in intrathecal post operative anaesthesia

 and

Wound Infiltration: an examination of current practice, emerging technologies and practical solutions for the safe delivery of medications

Date: Tuesday 19 March

Time: 7.30am - 8.30am

Perioperative incisional wound infiltration and continuous wound infiltration are important parts of the postoperative multimodal analgesia toolkit. Various methods and medications may be utilised for anaesthetic administration, with their own distinct advantages and disadvantages. Additionally, new, specialised equipment such as dedicated pumps and wound infiltration catheters are becoming more widely utilised, precipitating the need for defined regimes and practical guidance on usage. With continuous wound infiltration still being a relatively new modality of analgesia there remain several unanswered questions to ensure safe delivery of medications while maintaining effective postoperative analgesia.

Tapentadol abuse in the US: the first 24 months

Date: Tuesday 19 March

Time: 7.30am - 8.30am

Tapentadol is new centrally acting analgesic for moderate to severe pain with two mechanisms of action—MOR-NRI. Abuse and diversion rates of tapentadol IR in the US have been low during the first 24 months after its launch compared with tramadol, and notably lower than that of oxycodone and other more potent opioid analgesics.

Dr Richard C. Dart, MD, PhD

Dr. Dart is trained as a medical doctor specializing in emergency medicine and toxicology.  Dr. Dart is certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine and the American Board of Medical Toxicology.  Since 1992 he has served as the Director of the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center.  He is the Executive Director of Researched Abuse, Diversion, and Addiction-Related Surveillance (RADARS^®) System.  He has published more than 200 papers and chapters as well as served as editor for the book The 5-Minute Toxicology Consult and the 3^rd edition of Medical Toxicology.  In 2002 he was recognized with a special citation from the Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.  He was the 2004 recipient of the American College of Medical Toxicology Matthew J. Ellenhorn Award for Excellence in Medical Toxicology.  He also serves as a Deputy Editor of the medical journal Annals of Emergency Medicine and is immediate Past-President of the American Association of Poison Control Centers.