BERGEN NEW BRIDGE MEDICAL CENTER
GAINS IN PAIN TREATMENT
As the dangers of opioid abuse have become wellknown, physicians have started offering anumber of more effective and longer-lasting treatments toreduce or even eliminate chronic pain. For patients suffering from chronic back or knee pain who want to avoid surgery, or who still have discomfort post-surgery, Bergen New Bridge Medical Center now offers anon-surgical procedure called radiofrequency ablation that helps recipients feel better faster, for longer – without the harmful side effects ofopioids.
The way it works is this: Patients come in to be assessed by the center’ s interventional pain management team. In addition to reviewing MRI and X-ray exams to find the pain source and rule out asudden serious medical condition, Dr. Madouna Hanna, chair of the Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation department, conducts athorough neurological examination to help better identify the source of the patient’ spain. Her goal is to identify which specific nerves, whether in the knee or the lower back, are the source of the problem. For the majority of the patients with lower
DR. MADOUNA HANNA
back pain that doesn’ t radiate out to other areas, small joints named the facet joints are the cause ofdiscomfort.
As part ofher diagnostic process, when she’ s located the source of apatient’ spain, Hanna conducts diagnostic medial branch nerve blocks. She performs the procedure on two different occasions and asks treatment candidates to keep apain diary. Ifthe pain goes away starting from afew minutes after the injection and lasting for either days or weeks thereafter, and then the pain returns once the block has worn off, the individual is agood candidate for radiofrequency ablation.
When patients return for the treatment, Hanna numbs them with lidocaine, then inserts aspecific needle and runs a probe( a thin flexible wire) through it; the probe is attached by an outside wire tothe radiofrequency ablation machine. Eighty degrees Centigrade of thermal energy is applied to the pain-causing nerve for 90 seconds; patients describe the sensation they feel as warmth they can tolerate.
“ The way Idescribe what happens is that if you have a raw egg, the egg white isrunny, and that’ slike the signals that painful joints convey to the brain through sensory nerves,” says Hanna.“ If you cook the egg white, itdoesn’ t move around anymore. In the same way, the pain signal from the arthritic joint to the brain is slowed down.” Once the pain is gone, the patient isready tohave physical therapy to strengthen core muscles and take pressure off the back, she says. The same procedure can be done for people with osteoarthritis and meniscus tears inthe knee, she adds, including those with failed knee replacements.
Because nerves regenerate, the effects ofradiofrequency ablation last about nine-to-12 months, but the procedure can be repeated onayearly basis.“ Medications put aband-aid on the problem,” says Hanna.“ We want to treat and rehabilitate pain sufferers.”
ENGLEWOOD HEALTH
MESSAGERECEIVED
Who can look away from text messages without reading them? They appear instantly after being sent, they’ re brief, and they often include links to click so their recipients can easily take action. It’ s no wonder that Englewood Health’ s campaign to text patients scheduling reminders has met with such a great response rate.
In one post-COVID initiative, the medical center texted alink to 7,000 women who had delayed their mammograms due tothe pandemic; women who clicked the link were led to apage where they could schedule their next exam. The participation rate of respondents surprised Dr. Stephen Brunnquell, president of Englewood Health Physician Network.
“ We thought we’ dget a6-7 percent response rate,” he said at the time.“ But 20 percent took us up on this offer.”
Following that effort, the center reached out to smokers who were eligible to have their chests screened for spots indicating lung cancer, and to community members who were overdue for coloscopies. Englewood Health highlighted its texting initiative at the 2024 American College ofSurgeons Cancer Conference.
Now, the program has expanded to target patients 50-64 years old who have not seen aprimary care provider in three years. The text allows patients to schedule a physical exam with an available provider by themselves. As of February, roughly 8,400 patients had received text messages, and nearly 1,300 had booked an appointment. More than 50,000 more were eligible for the outreach at the time. InMarch, Englewood Health also launched a campaign to schedule screenings for men aged 65-75 who have ever smoked, and may beatrisk of an abdominal aortic aneurysm.
Text recipients may make anappointment via the link provided to them, but if they prefer, they can call acentral phone number instead.“ Our data shows that simple, timely reminders can save lives,” says Brunnquell.“ From cancer screenings to physical exams, these campaigns ensure patients stay ontop of their health, and help us close critical care gaps in our communities.” n
DR. HANNA: PROVIDED BY BERGEN NEW BRIDGE MEDICAL CENTER; ENGLEWOOD HEALTH: GETTY IMAGES / ANDRESR
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