20
doc • Spring 2014
Kentucky
cause of pain, it will replace the pain with a
pleasant massage sensation.
A patient who might be a candidate for an
implant meets with Dr. Rasheed to discuss the options and to learn more about
the process. He gives them the opportunity to chat with other patients who have
undergone the procedure. They also have
a psychological evaluation, necessary to
determine that they can cope with the idea
of a device being inside the body. Rasheed
is quick to emphasize that there are no
guarantees with the treatment, but that it
gives the patient control over their pain
management plan.
Stimulating with
Spectra
By Fiona Young-Brown
Dr. Karim Rasheed likes to take photos
of his patients. The Pain Specialist at
Lexington’s St. Joseph’s typically takes a
photo of each patient when he meets them
for their first appointment. Six months
later, he’ll take another so that he and the
patient can notice the difference in their
appearance and demeanor once their pain
is under control. “They’ll realize that they
look less tired,” he says. “Women might
be spending more time on their make up.
They carry themselves differently because
they’re not in as much pain.” Now the
Iraqi-born doc, who has been in Kentucky
since 1991, with the exception of a brief
interval in Indiana, has a new addition
to his pain management arsenal with the
Spectra Spinal Cord Stimulation system, from Boston Scientific.
Pain management implants have
been around for some forty years,
but technological advances mean
that they’ve come a long way since
the original one lead device with
a battery life of months. The newest Precision Spectra System can
utilize up to 32 contacts and the
battery won’t need replacing for a
dozen or