A Contemporary Medicolegal Analysis of Outpatient Interventional Pain Procedures

Researchers set out to explore what insights for patient safety and physician professional liability are revealed through analysis of malpractice claims involving outpatient chronic pain procedures. Findings from an analysis of CRICO Strategies Comparative Benchmarking System (CBS) data demonstrated that epidural steroid injections are among the most commonly performed interventional pain procedures and, while a familiar procedure to pain management practitioners, may result in significant neurological injury.

Researchers recommend that “efforts to minimize practitioner liability and patient harm, like the claims themselves, will be multifactorial. Best outcomes will likely come from continued robust training in procedural skills, attention paid to published best practice recommendations, documentation that includes an inclusive consent discussion, and thoughtful patient selection.”

Citation for the Full-text Article

Abrecht CR, Saba R, Greenberg P, Rathmell JP, Urman RD. A contemporary medicolegal analysis of outpatient interventional pain procedures between 2009 and 2016. Anesthesia & Analgesia. Jul 2019, 129(1):255–262. http://dx.doi.org/10.1213/ANE.0000000000004096

Related Article

• Considerations to Reduce Medicolegal Claims in Interventional Pain Procedures [read an editorial about the study]