The 26th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Pain Society
Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C.

Special Interest Group Meetings

Thursday, May 3

5–6 pm

(119) Measurement of Pain and Its Impact, Part 1

There are many developments in all areas of pain research and clinical practice related to measurement of pain. Some areas have seen bigger and some smaller advances but all constitute progress. This meeting will review current status and development in a few major areas. One theme that will be articulated is that recent technological and conceptual advances add to our ability to measure and assess pain, including electronic pain scales, better methods of conducting quantitative sensory testing, and pain assessment instruments for different pain conditions (e.g., neuropathic pain scales). This will be discussed further during the session, and other areas will be explored during the second meeting on Saturday, May 5, from Noon– 1:15 pm.

(120) Basic Science

The Basic Science SIG will meet to discuss various topics of interest. The Basic Science liaisons to the APS Board of Directors and the Scientific Program Committee will give brief reports of progress and activities over the year. There will also be open discussion from the floor and the nomination and election of a new co-chair for 2007–2008. The content of the 2008 Basic Science Dinner Symposium will be addressed, and a brief data blitz from three early career scholars will conclude the meeting. Speakers for the meeting will include Drs. Lucy Vulchanova, Derek Molliver, and Greg Dussor.

(121) Genetics and Pain

This meeting will involve an informative presentation concerning some of the newer genetic methodologies available for the study of pain. After the presentation, the group will discuss goals for the coming year, collaborative research opportunities, educational opportunities and other agenda items. Dr. William Lariviere will give a talk on QTL mapping and covariance analyses of pain traits, nonpain traits and transcript levels using the recombinant inbred mouse model.

(122) Interdisciplinary Pain Rehabilitation

In 2005, the Interdisciplinary Pain Rehabilitation SIG was formed because despite overwhelming evidence that comprehensive interdisciplinary treatment for chronic pain is both clinically and fiscally efficacious, third-party payers remain reluctant to pay for it and therefore many of the pain programs that opened in the 1980s have closed. This year the SIG is hosting a symposium on the survival of interdisciplinary treatment of chronic pain. Additionally, we plan to develop a list and descriptions of all national interdisciplinary pain programs to be shared with APS member and the public. The results of a patient satisfaction survey done by the American Chronic Pain Association will be reviewed.

(123) Nursing Issues

The Nursing Issues SIG will present “Challenging Aspects of Evidence-Based Pain Management Nursing.”

(124) Pain in Infants, Children, and Adolescents

The annual SIG business meeting will be held.

(125) Psychosocial Research

A data blitz will be conducted in which researchers will briefly present new data on psychosocial pain research.


Friday, May 4

4:30–6 pm

(126) Disparity in Pain Management

The SIG will confirm the slate of newly elected officers and review the past year’s activities. Plans for the upcoming year will be previewed, including plans that are relevant to the 2008 APS meeting. The second half of the meeting will be devoted to a data blitz, in which attendees will present recently collected data in a telescoped fashion (no more than 3 minutes per presentation with another 2 minutes for discussion with group).

(127) Ethics

4:30–7 pm

(128) Clinical Trials

This program will include lectures on several emerging clinical trials issues related to pain. Tentative topics include general considerations in combination analgesic treatment, handling of missing data, responders analyses, FDA perspective on regulatory issues involving analgesics, and gastrointestinal function during moderate-to-severe pain. Speakers include Peter Lacouture, John Farrar, Raymond Dionne, Gus Larijani, and Bob Rappaport.

(129) Pharmacotherapy

This inaugural meeting will begin with a 20-minute presentation by SIG Chair David Craig followed by a discussion of future SIG activities, elections, and planning for the first SIG-sponsored symposia in 2008.

(130) Palliative Care

6:30–8:30 pm
Basic Science Research Forum Dinner


Saturday, May 5

Noon–1:15 pm

(133) Measurement of Pain and Its Impact, Part II

There are many developments in all areas of pain research and clinical practice related to measurement of pain. Some areas have seen bigger and some smaller advances but all constitute progress. This meeting will review current status and development in a few major areas. In this particular session, which is a continuation of our discussion from our first SIG meeting on Thursday, May 3, we will explore the question of measuring individual differences in pain sensitivity, a problem of enormous significance for conducting successful clinical trials and pain research studies.