A new Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine has been established in our department. The goal of the center, under the directorship of Jacques E. Chelly, MD, PhD, MBA, is to develop research and implement new clinical services to assess the role that complementary and alternative medicine can play in care for surgical patients. Special emphasis is placed on the role that these techniques play in the modulation of risks associated with mood disorders, opioid use disorders, and how these approaches may contribute to optimizing patient outcomes, including decreasing acute and chronic pain, hospital length of stay, and hospital re-admission rates in the context of value-based care. The center will also serve as an education center.
The center intends to position itself as a thought-leader and partner in complementary and alternative medicine and create partnerships with internal stakeholders (UPMC health system and its individual hospitals, other UPMC departments) and external stakeholders (other academic medical centers & health care systems, pharmaceutical industry, startup/joint ventures, foundations, funding agencies). Current clinical trials being conducted in complementary and alternative medicine relate to the role of virtual reality and autonomic biofeedback in the treatment of chronic pain, auricular reflexology for the perioperative management of acute pain, the auricular stimulator BRIDGE device to treat perioperative acute pain, and aromatherapy for the perioperative control of anxiety, as well as cannabinoids.
So far, department members who have demonstrated interest in complementary and alternative medicine include Drs. Aman Mahajan, Ajay Wasan, Grace Lim, Jim Ibinson, Trent Emerick, Alyson Engle, Keith Vogt, and Ray Planinsic. Collaborations have been established with the UPMC Divisions of Surgery Oncology, Minimally Invasive Bariatric and General Surgery, and Abdominal Transplantation. Future research areas include the roles of acupuncture, hypnosis, and more. The center is open to any department members interested in the topic and related research and clinical services.