Acute Pain Management Services: What Does the Air Force Have to Offer?

This is a AIR FORCE INST OF TECH WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB OH report procured by the Pentagon and made available for public release. It has been reproduced in the best form available to the Pentagon. It is not spiral-bound, but rather assembled with Velobinding in a soft, white linen cover. The Storming Media report number is A986923. The abstract provided by the Pentagon follows: The purpose of this descriptive study was to assess the prevalence of acute pain management services (APMS), in Air Force medical facilities and examine the roles of anesthesia providers in acute pain management programs. This descriptive study consisted of a telephone survey to all Air Force medical facilities that house an anesthesia department and surgical services. Anesthesia providers in charge of the pain services or chiefs of the anesthesia departments were interviewed about established acute pain programs and practices in their facilities. Each institution was asked questions related to the initiation of a formal APMS, primary goals, services, components of the program, staffing, and familiarity with the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) guidelines in acute pain management. This study examined current pain treatment programs in the Air Force medical centers and some of the barriers to overcome in improving APMS in the future. Data were analyzed to describe the current status of acute pain services in Air Force facilities and how the services compared to a previous study by Warfield and Kahn (1995) of U.S. hospitals. Air Force medical facilities (45%) had established as many acute pain management services as U.S. hospitals (42%). More Air Force facilities provided pain counseling to patients preoperatively than U.S. facilities, but had lower percentages of written components as compared to U.S. hospitals.