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Interdisciplinary treatment is an empirically-validated approach to managing chronic pain conditions (Gatchel & Okifuji, 2006; Oslund et al., 2009) and is based upon a biopsychosocial conceptualization of the patient’s pain experience. This chapter will describe the basic rationale behind an interdisciplinary approach, the interdisciplinary program framework, and the role that this approach plays when considering disability in the workplace. Indeed, musculoskeletal and neuropathic pain are an all-too-common chief complaint with which patients present to pain treatment facilities (Gatchel & Mayer, 2008). The focus of this chapter will be on the treatment of nonmalignant pain (as opposed to chronic malignant pain). Musculoskeletal pain affects the muscles, ligaments, tendons, bones, and nerves. Low back pain is one form of musculoskeletal pain; up to 80 % of medical costs for back pain can be accounted for by the 5–10 % of acute back pain conditions that develop into chronic pain conditions (Gatchel & Mayer, 2000). Chronic spinal disorders also represent a significant proportion of nearly 1.9 million injuries and illnesses in the US industry, with direct-cost expenses of approximately $418 billion, and indirect costs of about $837 billion (Brady et al., 1997; Melhorn, 2003). Neuropathic pain is another form of chronic nonmalignant pain, and it includes peripheral neuropathy, complex regional pain syndrome (e.g., reflex sympathetic dystrophy), neuralgia, carpal tunnel syndrome, cubital tunnel syndrome, and other neuropathic pain conditions. |
