pain

An initiative at VUMC is helping patients recover more quickly from major surgery, leave the hospital earlier and have fewer side effects from their pain management. (photo by Joe Howell)
December 2, 2025

Ketamine fails surgical recovery trial

In a large, placebo-controlled, randomized trial, the pain reliever ketamine posed side effects while failing to aid patient recovery after major surgery.

By Paul Govern
November 6, 2025

Inflammatory marker could predict response to therapy in bladder pain syndrome

Patients with chronic bladder pain syndrome who had higher baseline levels of the inflammatory molecule IL-1beta had greater overall improvement following cognitive behavioral therapy.

By Georgia Caso
Amanda Toye, MD
April 7, 2025

Amanda Toye named division chief of Pain Medicine in the Department of Anesthesiology

Toye plans to expand community outreach programs to educate patients and health care providers about pain management options.

By Erin Wides
Heather Jackson, PhD, APRN, FNP-BC. (photo by Donn Jones)
November 22, 2024

Heather Jackson named America’s top NP for pain management 

Jackson treats patients at the supportive and palliative oncology clinic at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and is an associate professor in Clinical Nursing at Vanderbilt University.

By Tom Wilemon
March 27, 2024

New program designed to help patients and families impacted by chronic pain

Psychologists at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt will soon begin offering a workshop to help patients and families impacted by chronic pain and persistent functional symptoms.

By Jessica Pasley
An array of ultrasound transducers covering the head focuses an ultrasound beam to a location deep in the brain associated with pain perception (bright spot). (illustration by Thomas Manuel, PhD)
December 20, 2023

Nonaddictive pain relief system nears clinical trials

Researchers in the Vanderbilt are nearing completion of an ingenious undertaking that may be a highpoint of their careers — a non-addictive alternative for relieving chronic pain.

By Bill Snyder
December 6, 2023

Study connects patients who visit the ED with acute flare-ups of chronic back pain with remote integrative health coaching program

Vanderbilt will pilot an eight-session remote integrative health coaching program for patients who visit the emergency department with acute flare-ups of chronic low back pain.
By Danny Bonvissuto
August 24, 2023

Predicting postop opioid use

VUMC study finds that preoperative patient characteristics can predict daily opioid use at six months after surgery, suggesting opportunities for development of electronic risk-stratification algorithms.
By Paul Govern
April 20, 2023

Genetics and chronic pain

Polygenic risk scores — scores that reflect the influence of common genetic variants — could be used to predict the likelihood of developing chronic overlapping pain conditions and guide biomarker and targeted prevention efforts.
By Bill Snyder
January 12, 2023

Clinical trial compares different therapies for spine pain

A Vanderbilt clinical trial to determine whether multidisciplinary biopsychosocial intervention or individualized postural therapy intervention improved disability and reduced health care spending in patients with acute or subacute spine pain.
By Danny Bonvissuto
September 26, 2022

Gender differences with bladder pain

Gender differences in the pain experiences and treatment needs of people with a urologic pain syndrome could be used to improve interventions, Vanderbilt researchers report.
By Leigh MacMillan
February 24, 2022

Spinal cord stimulator implants helping ease chronic pain

Specialists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center implanted 130 spinal cord stimulators last year to help ease patients' chronic pain.
By Paul Govern
August 24, 2020

Land of plenty (of opioids)

Surgical patients are being given more opioids than they need for postsurgical pain management, raising the risk of addiction.
By Paul Govern
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