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St. John Medical Center’s Pain Management Center Expands Services to Better Serve Patient Needs

Abdallah Kabbara, MD, Salim Hayek, MD, and Patrick McIntyre, MDSt. John Medical Center has announced the expansion of its Pain Management Center. The Center will offer extended hours and a wider array of state-of-the-art pain management services as it welcomes two new additions to its medical staff. Salim Hayek, MD, PhD, and Patrick McIntrye, MD, JD, have joined Abdallah Kabbara, MD, medical director of the hospital’s Pain Management Center, in providing interventional pain management.

In order to ensure patient satisfaction, the Pain Management Center is now open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for the treatment of acute, chronic and cancer pain. In the majority of cases, patients will be seen within 24 to 48 hours by a pain management professional who has received training through University Hospitals. This expanded coverage allows the Center’s multidisciplinary staff to provide specialized care for more patients while shortening patient waiting times.

"Whatever a patient’s source of pain, they receive comprehensive evaluations and treatment plans tailored specifically for them," said Dr. Kabbara. "Since we have seen a rise in patients who suffer from chronic pain, we saw a need to offer more services. So our expansion is in direct response to community needs."

With the additions of Dr. Salim Hayek and Dr. Patrick McIntrye, the Center now offers three highly trained pain management professionals dedicated to providing advanced care.

Dr. Kabbara is Board Certified in anesthesiology and pain management and has been practicing with St. John Medical Center’s Pain Management Center since 2005. In addition, Dr. Kabbara has extensive experience in radiofrequency ablation of the neck, thorax, back and peripheral nerves. He also inserts and maintains intrathecal pumps and spinal cord stimulators, as well as provides nucleoplasty and discograms. Dr. Kabbara is currently an assistant professor and anesthesia consultant at Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Salim Hayek is Board Certified in anesthesiology and pain medicine and currently serves as the Division Chief of Pain Medicine at University Hospitals. His specific areas of focus include the treatment of cancer and neuropathic pain, complex regional pain syndrome and failed back surgery syndrome. Dr. Hayek currently serves an associate professor at Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Patrick McIntyre brings with him advanced training in pain management, specializing in the treatment of cervical and lumbar spine pain, as well as complex regional pain syndrome. As an instructor at Case Western Reserve University, he is certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology.

Together, the Pain Management Center staff treats a wide variety of conditions including:

  • Chronic Low Back/Neck Pain
  • Spinal Stenosis/Disc Disease
  • Radicular Symptoms/Radiculopathy
  • Cancer Related Pain
  • Diabetic Neuropathy
  • Postherpetic Neuralgia
  • Intercostal Neuralgia
  • Headache/Facial Pain
  • Chronic Visceral Pain (Abdominal/Pelvic)
  • Muscle and Joint Pain Associated with Nervous System Disorders

The range of procedures and innovative therapy options the Center offers includes:

  • Post-laminectomy procedures (non-invasive approaches for patients who have already had back surgery and are not surgical candidates)
  • Nucleoplasty (uses X-ray guidance instead of an incision to perform disc decompression in those with acutely herniated discs)
  • Spinal cord stimulators (uses a tiny implantable generator to stimulate the spinal cord to treat painful conditions and improve circulation)
  • Spinal drug delivery systems (a computerized pump that delivers local anesthetics and pain relief medication into the spine to block pain signals)
  • Radiofrequency ablation of the neck, thorax, back and peripheral nerves (radiofrequency energy to interrupt nerves that carry pain signals to joints).

In addition to keeping on top of the latest pain management techniques, The Pain Management Center will also undergo a number of facility upgrades within the next few months. As a result, the Hospital expects to triple the current square footage to provide additional exam and treatment rooms. In 2008, all three of the Center’s physicians will participate in educational programs in an effort to create community awareness and answer questions regarding pain.

For more information on the Pain Management Center at St. John Medical Center, please call Vicky Fleming at 440-827-5058.

 

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