Dr. Sigman gave a TEDx Talk called “Changing the Paradigm of Pain Management,” explaining the issues with opioid use in pain management, and new options for managing pain without opioids.
TEDx Talk Synopsis
As surgeons, we were told that postoperative pain management was critically important to our patients’ surgical outcomes. We were told to use Opioids because they were inexpensive and minimally addictive. Tragically, what no one realized at the time was that this mindset created an inadvertent gateway to Opioid addiction, devastating families and communities. In this talk, Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Scott Sigman discusses how Opioid addiction was completely underestimated by the medical establishment, how the medical culture typically resists change and the journey of a new pain management technology that went from pushback to widespread acceptance.
Dr. Sigman is a national and internationally recognized leader in Opioid Sparing Surgery. He is an Orthopedic Surgeon who specializes in the knee and shoulder. He has been in clinical practice for over 25 years and is a leader in professional education, and medical device development, and has numerous peer-reviewed publications. He is the team physician at UMASS Lowell. He is a member of Governor Bakers Commission to establish a pain management access program in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He did his sports medicine fellowship at the prestigious Kerlan Jobe Clinic in Los Angeles. His Opioid Sparing leadership propelled him to become a Fellow of the Worlds Society on Sports and Exercise Medicine, and most recently had the honor of becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
In addition to his clinical responsibilities, Dr. Sigman is the Chief Medical Officer for OrthoLazer Orthopedic Laser Centers. The OrthoLazer franchise was developed to provide an alternative treatment option for acute and chronic pain to help combat the Opioid crisis. Dr. Sigman is also the host of the popular The Ortho Show podcast. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.