Pain and Addiction Committee

Who We Are 

The mission of the AAEM Pain and Addiction Committee is providing safe, effective, and efficient analgesia and procedural sedation in the ED and addressing and treating addiction in a patient-centered, evidence-based manner free of commercial bias. This mission is accomplished by dissemination and sharing of knowledge, by creation of pain and addiction management guidelines, by promoting advanced concepts in pain management, sedation, and addiction management, and by multi-specialty collaborations. Our goal is to serve as a forum for AAEM members who share an interest in pain, addiction, and sedation, as well as acting as a liaison between AAEM leadership and issues that arise in these domains.

 

 

Leadership

Chair: Zachary Repanshek, MD FAAEM

Vice Chair: Alexis LaPietra, DO FACEP FAAEM

Board Liaison: Kraftin E. Schreyer, MD MBA FAAEM

Staff Liaison:  Thomas G. Derenne

 

Our Projects

Goals:

1. Collaboration with the Emergency Medical Services Section on a white paper focused on the prehospital use of ketamine.
2. Advising the Academy on issues surrounding pain management and addiction medicine and identifying opportunities for advocacy.
3. Provide educational content on the most current and relevant topics related to the management of pain and addiction for the benefit of AAEM members and all emergency physicians.

 

White Paper

• Coming Soon: Emergency Department Management of Patients with Alcohol Intoxication, Alcohol Withdrawal, and Alcohol Use Disorder: A White Paper Prepared for the American Academy of Emergency Medicine
• Management of Opioid Use Disorder in the Emergency Department: A White Paper Prepared for the American Academy of Emergency Medicine (approved 9/22/2019)
  • References
• AAEM White Paper on Acute Pain Management in the Emergency Department (10/24/17)

 

Previous Projects:

1. Implementation of evidence-based guidelines for responsible opioid use in the ED that accounts for their benefits and harms. 
2. Fostering multi-specialty collaboration to promote a targeted, multimodal analgesia approach for patients who present for emergency care with acute and chronic pain.
3. Creating best practices for emergency physicians for the management of opioid and alcohol use disorder.

 

Letter to Congressional Leadership

• Letter Encouraging the Passage of the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act (MAT Act, H.R. 2482, S. 2074) (PDF)