Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2002 Dec; 6(6): 444-51.

Acupuncture in pain medicine: an integrated approach to the management of refractory pain.

Ahadian FM.

Center for Pain and Palliative Medicine, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, #0924, La Jolla 92093-0924, USA. fahadian@ucsd.edu

As the acupuncture nomenclature permeates medical literature, the artificial barriers to integration of acupuncture and allopathic medicine are disappearing. More patients are looking to their physicians for guidance on how to incorporate acupuncture into their health care, and pain physicians are accepting the challenge. Similar to allopathic medicine, acupuncture is an intricate diagnostic and therapeutic system. However, for practicing physicians, mastery of the skills necessary for safe and effective treatment of many conditions is well within reach. Used in an integrated medical model, acupuncture is well suited to deal with many of the functional problems that allopathic medicine is not equipped to address. The result is patient and physician satisfaction.