The Ohio State University Medical Center has one of the top 35 pain centers in the country, according to the May 2003 issue of Good Housekeeping.

“We are highly interventional in doing procedures or operations to hopefully cure chronic pain,” said Jill Niese, nurse manager of the pain center.

The Center for Pain Control is strictly for outpatients and is part of the department of anesthesiology. It treats from 500 to 600 patients every month.

Patients of the center are either pre-surgery, trying to exhaust all possibilities of avoiding surgery, or are experiencing pain following surgical procedures. The center’s patients suffer from ailments ranging from migraines to nerve damage.

“Most patients are suffering from chronic low back pain (and) have had back surgeries in the past,” Niese said.

The pain center, despite its recent recognition, has been part of the mecical center only since June 2002. New technologies and procedures are part of the reason OSU was recognized as most proficient in treatment of chronic pain.

“Right now in the U.S., OSU can do all the most advanced procedures. There is nothing we can’t do here that any other clinic, from the Cleveland clinic to Harvard (can do),” said Dr. Todd Schulte, the pain center’s interim director.

One of the new procedures performed at the center is intradiscal electrotherapy as an alternative to surgery. The procedure is a new way to shrink down damaged disks while avoiding open surgery. About 60 percent of patients get better with this procedure, Schulte said.

Other new procedures include spinal cord stimulation to replace damaged nerves and lumbar fusion.

“Everybody gets somewhat better. There is almost always something we can do,” Schulte said.

Good Housekeeping also named Dr. Steven Severyn as OSU’s top pain doctor. Severyn is credited with being a large part of the pain center’s success.

“I think Dr. Severyn has done a great job,” Schulte said.

Severyn held the position of director of the center until he was deployed in February of this year; he is a member of the Army National Guard. In Severyn’s absence, Schulte has filled the position of director.

“Fifty total staff in the entire University Hospital had the potential to be deployed. He’s the only physician,” said Emily Caldwell, spokesperson for the OSU medical center.

Schulte has also been caring for Severyn’s patients for the time being.

The pain center has a small staff composed of four nurses and three doctors, not including Severyn. Without him, the center has experienced some stress.

“It’s been incredibly busy. We are considering now seeing patients on Saturdays,” Schulte said.

There is no word on when Severyn will return.

Other Big Ten schools mentioned in the list were the University of Iowa and the University of Michigan. There was not a number rank given to each hospital mentioned, rather the list was a compilation of the equally best 35 pain center institutions.

Dr. Harold Cook, an anesthesiologist, believes that the success of the OSU pain center expands beyond the recognition by Good Housekeeping.

Quoting William Osler, ” ‘To cure sometimes, to relieve often, to comfort always, this is our work,’ ” Cook said. “I’ll add that to hear the success stories of our patients who have been cured makes it all worthwhile.”