COVID-19 has forced many healthcare providers to stop non-urgent procedures, leaving many chronic pain patients concerned about facing the next few months. To make things worse, chronic pain patients may be more susceptible to COVID-19 because they also tend to be elderly and have comorbidities. In addition, chronic opioid therapy can cause immune supression and the use of steroids with interventional pain procedures can induce immunosuppression.
Dr. Samer Narouze is available to discuss what COVID-19 means for patients who are receiving these therapies.
He is one of a group of experts who have developed guidance for healthcare providers treating chronic pain patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. The guidelines are a joint project of the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine and the European Society of Regional Anaesthesia and Pain Therapy.
Dr. Narouze is the chairman of the Center for Pain Medicine at Western Reserve Hospital in Cuyahoga Falls, OH. He is an expert on headache and pain medicine and is board certified in pain medicine, neurology headache medicine, interventional pain management, and anesthesiology.
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