Alan Kaye, MD, PhD: Treating Pain During COVID-19

Treating pain during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been difficult.

Unless there was an unusual emergency, interventional pain procedures were considered elective, Alan Kaye, MD, PhD, of LSU Health School of Medicine, told HCPLive® in a recent interview. Most were canceled because of concerns about supplies and the doctors did not want patients to get exposed.

“Pain medicine has gone through radical changes with telemedicine becoming the norm,” Kaye said.

The pandemic has been a serious challenge, he added.

Research has been published touching on all of the issues related to treating pain during COVID-19.

While pain doctors and rheumatologists alike have needed to shift its focus and use telemedicine to treat patients, some rheumatologists may have already been leveraging the technology for consults with patients.

“Every doctor and every person in America and probably worldwide have been affected by COVID,” Kaye said. He added it should not be surprising the Congress of Clinical Rheumatology East 2020 meeting was taking place virtually over laptops.

Hear more from Kaye in the video interview clip posted above.