Episode 1: This is the launch of our podcast, so we’ll meet Kurt Reibling, founder and COO of Kentucky Pain Associates (KPA). He’ll provide some background about KPA, its services and what makes them different from other pain management practices. This episode sets the stage for additional episodes already being recorded.
The statistics for motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) in Kentucky are fairly high, especially in Jefferson County. The number of reported injuries are also surprisingly high. The injury number is most-likely higher because some victims don’t report pain at the crash site, but over the following days, acute pain set in, often resulting in a trip to the hospital or other healthcare provider.
At the time, the most predominate method of treating car wreck injuries was going to a chiropractor. You can find them throughout Louisville and the surrounding counties. Chiropractors can provide good treatment for those involved in automobile accidents. Whiplash is a very common injury. This “soft-tissue” injury typically involves a stretching of the muscles, tendons and ligaments due to the forces resulting from the collision.
The limitation of chiropractic care is that chiropractors are not licensed to prescribe medication, nor provide procedures such as injections. Kurt saw this as an opportunity to help patients by providing treatments not offered by the chiropractors.
Kentucky Pain Associates Can Work with Your Chiropractor
Kurt founded Premier Medical Services in 2009, to provide mobile, diagnostic ultrasound. This is a good method for helping chiropractors to prove the soft tissue injury. A technician could provide the ultrasound. A medical doctor would add an additional layer of credibility to these treatments. That doctor could also serve as the supervising physician.
In 2010, a new office opened with a doctor and staff to do the examinations and make determinations regarding the injuries. The team at KPA is not providing the therapy available at a chiropractor or physical therapist. Kentucky Pain Associates is here to manage the injured person’s acute pain. Acute pain is a condition lasting 90 days or less. If it goes beyond 90 days, it becomes classified as chronic pain.
Therapists such has chiropractors and physical therapists can help to heal the injury. It’s important that the treatment is followed through to completion to avoid a chronic pain issue, down the road.
Kentucky Pain Associates works closely with the other providers to ensure a seamless treatment path for the patient. People who seek treatment from KPA are generally with them for 2-3 months.
Kentucky Pain Associates Can Work with Your Attorney
The majority of patients treating with Kentucky Pain Associates are also involved in the legal process as they seek recovery of damages related to their automobile accident (or workers’ compensation claim, as we discuss later). KPA will keep the attorney updated and send a full medical report to assist in building the claim and or lawsuit.
KPA Board Certified Physicians
In 2012, the Kentucky legislature defined what a pain management facility is and does. This was, in part, to help get control of the surging opioid epidemic. At the time, Kentucky was the 2nd worst state for opioid abuse and overdoses. The new legislation required that a pain management facility must be physician-owned and that a board-certified pain management physician be on staff.
Kentucky Pain Associates has 2 physicians, Dr. Jason Lewis and Dr. Kyle Young. Both are anesthesiologists and board certified in pain management. Dr. Lewis provided a pain management presentation to a statewide group of attorneys in 2021. Part of that discussion focused on the safeguards KPA has in place to very conservatively prescribe and monitor treatment involving opioid medication. We plan to having Dr. Lewis record a podcast episode on that same topic. He serves as the Medical Director for KPA.
Non-Opioid Alternatives at KPA
For some patients, trigger point injections are the preferred treatment modality. These injections into the muscle can relax the tense knots within the muscle. Those knots can cause intense pain. The trigger point injections can be very effective. For many patients, this procedure can relieve the pain within a day or two.
Bulging or Herniated Disks
The providers at KPA can refer the patient for an MRI. The KPA medical staff can then diagnose what is the cause of the pain and exactly where that bulging or herniated disk is located along the spinal column. The medical equipment at KPA will help to guide a needle to inject a steroid solution to reduce the inflammation and swelling around the disk and impacted nerves. This procedure can work for a couple of years or permanently, depending upon who the patient’s body reacts to the treatment.
Generally speaking, you want to avoid going from an initial evaluation directly to a surgical procedure for acute pain. Kentucky Pain Associates offers a variety of highly-effective treatment options designed to address and treat the pain, before surgery becomes the only alternative. The vast majority of people who get treatment at KPA are able to avoid surgery for their pain.
Treatment for Workplace Injuries
Kentucky Pain Associates can provide treatment for someone who was hurt at work. Many of these injuries involve damage to muscles, tendons, ligaments. They often include back and neck injuries.
In a Kentucky workers’ compensation claim, the medical records are extremely important. Again, the board-certified physicians at KPA can add additional credibility and medical reports to support the work your workers’ comp attorney is doing on your behalf. Pain management is often a part of the overall treatment for someone who has been hurt on the job.
Kentucky Pain Associates Provides Diagnostic Evaluations for Brain Injuries
KPA is able to provide innovative diagnostic equipment and evaluations for people who may have suffered a brain injury, related to a car wreck or workplace injury. Kentucky Pain Associates has an exclusive collaboration with MedTrak Diagnostics. This arrangement is the only objective, traumatic brain injury evaluation center in Kentucky. We’ll explore this new capability in Episode 2 of our podcast.
The resulting damage of a traumatic brain injury (TBI) is permanent. The diagnostic evaluation can help to identify the specific neuropathways that have sustained damage. By properly identifying the full extent of the brain injury, the patient can receive the optimal course of treatment. This information can also be provided in the medical records to, again, bolster the strength of an injury case or workers’ compensation claim.
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Want to Set Up an Appointment with Kentucky Pain Associates?
We offer 3 locations to serve you:
LOUISVILLE: 222 South 1st Street, Suite 300, Louisville, KY 40202
ELIZABETHTOWN: 1107 Crowne Point Dr., Suite 100, Elizabethtown, KY 42701
LEXINGTON: 101 Prosperous Place, Suite 300, Lexington, KY 40509
Feel Free to Contact Us via the website or by calling (502) 855-3919. We also provide a telemedicine option (video call) for people outside of those areas.
Remember, work injury or MVA? Think KPA!
