Pictured right are Dr. Agnes Stogicza (CENTER)—originally from Hungary, currently practicing in Seattle, and soon to be in Vancouver—and Dr. Roger Nora (RIGHT) from Brazil. Both were Faculty at the 22nd Annual Gabor Racz Advanced Interventional Budapest Pain Conference and Workshop, and they also played a huge role in making Dr. Eric H. Williams (the one and only plastic surgeon at the conference) feel welcome.
After the workshop on partial joint denervation at the Mayo Clinic, Dr. Williams traveled 4,500 miles to Budapest, Hungary, to spread the word about surgical techniques for denervation in and around the knee joint to relieve painful nerves for patients suffering from severe refractory chronic neuropathic knee pain.
Dr. Williams was humbled to have been invited to give a presentation to colleagues from around the world who were attending the conference. Dr. Williams’ goal for attending and presenting was to begin improving communication and to share diagnostic and surgical treatment options with the members of this prestigious group, which was comprised of experts in the field of interventional pain management from around the world. Most of the attending physicians were anesthesiologists and other specialists who created the field of interventional pain management.
Needless to say, there was lively conversation and cross-fertilization of ideas as the two fields of peripheral nerve surgery and interventional pain management collaborated to bridge gaps in the knowledge of how to diagnose and treat chronic refractory neurogenic knee and joint pain.
