Adhesive Arachnoiditis: Identification, Treatment and Management of Inflammatory Pain

Presented by Forest Tennant, MD, MPH, DrPH. Learn about the often-misunderstood diagnosis of adhesive arachnoiditis. We’ll discuss this complex neuroinflammatory disease of the spinal canal covering (arachnoid) and the lumbar spinal cord nerve roots (cauda equina). In other words, two different body parts abnormally “glue” together by adhesions. Pulsed Electromagnetic Energy (PEMF) will be presented as a treatment option, including results of a randomized, controlled trial for patients in pain after lumbar surgery. Dr. Tennant is an internist and addictionologist who has spent his medical career researching and treating intractable pain. He managed the Veract Intractable Pain Clinics in West Covina, California, from 1975 (originally focused on cancer pain and post-polio disease) to 2018. Dr. Tennant served as the editor-in-chief of Practical Pain Management from 2007 through 2017 and continues to hold an Emeritus honor with the journal. Today, he leads the Tennant Foundation and its Arachnoiditis Research and Education Project. Dr. Tennant is a member of the American Academy of Pain Medicine, the Academy of Integrative Pain Management, the American Pain Society, and the American Society of Addiction Medicine. He has authored over 300 scientific articles and books. He formerly served as a Medical Officer in the US Army and US Public Health Service, and was a consultant to the FDA, National Institute on Drug Abuse, and Drug Enforcement Administration, as well as to the LA Dodgers, National Football League, and NASCAR.