UF anesthesiologist honored for advancing acute pain care

An anesthesiologist at the University of Florida has recently received national recognition for his efforts in advancing research and education related to acute pain care.

Patrick Tighe, M.D., M.S., an assistant professor of anesthesiology in the UF College of Medicine, was awarded a Presidential Commendation from the American Academy of Pain Medicine, an association of medical professionals whose focus is pain care.

Each year, the president of the academy chooses a small group of individuals in the field to honor for their contributions to pain care and pain medicine. For 2015, 11 recipients nationwide will receive the commendation.

Chronic and acute pain affects 100 million Americans and has a financial impact of half-a-trillion dollars each year, said Sean Mackey, M.D., Ph.D., president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine.

“Dr. Patrick Tighe is leading national efforts to enhance patient care for people in acute pain. He has also demonstrated exceptional leadership in advancing our knowledge of acute pain and its consequences,” Mackey said. “His efforts will benefit many people suffering from pain and lessen pain’s impact on society.”

Tighe is being honored, in part, for his role in establishing the Acute Pain Medicine Shared Interest Group, a collaboration of health care providers with an interest in acute pain, including those at the Defense and Veterans Center for Integrative Pain Management — an organization that formed in 2009 to make recommendations for pain management strategies that provide optimal quality of life for soldiers and other patients dealing with pain.

Tighe and Chester “Trip” Buckenmaier, M.D., the former director of the Defense and Veterans Center for Integrative Pain Management, are among the founders of the Acute Pain Medicine Shared Interest Group and worked together on one of its initiatives that looked at ways to advance research and education in acute pain.

“This group was born out the work of Sean Mackey and Trip Buckenmaier,” Tighe said. “We’ve been working on several initiatives to raise awareness about dealing with acute pain, as well as ways to provide better acute pain care — from national policy all the way over to improvements in bedside care for patients suffering from acute pain.”

The Presidential Commendation will be presented to Tighe and Buckenmaier during the American Academy of Pain Medicine’s annual meeting, to be held March 19-22 in National Harbor, Maryland.

“It’s a team effort and the recognition should go to all the folks who did the work in the Acute Pain Medicine Shared Interest Group— a group that works so hard and diligently to improve the care of our patients on so many different levels,” Tighe said.

A 2005 graduate of the UF College of Medicine, Tighe’s research is currently funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. His lab includes a collaboration of researchers from the U.S. Armed Forces as well as the UF colleges of Dentistry, Engineering, Medicine and Business Administration to explore how data can help predict and manage pain following surgery.