Pain Unfiltered · American Society of Pain & Neuroscience

Serving Those Who Served: Advancing Pain Care for Veterans

July 7, 2025·34 min·3 clips

A 60-year-old vet walks in with the spine of an 80-year-old.

Patrick Buchanan and Timothy Deer open the conversation with a direct welcome and a reminder that Pain Unfiltered centers on interventional pain and spine care. They thank season sponsors, mention Mainstay Medical, and set up a future conversation with Jason Hannon and Dr. Karen Patel. The mood is warm, but the topic is serious. The hosts turn quickly to veterans, framing the discussion around men and women who have sacrificed a great deal for the country. Timothy notes his connection to the Navy SEAL Foundation, which gives the topic a personal edge. The guests treat veteran pain care as a clinical problem with human consequences. A recurring theme is that less invasive options can matter as much for pain relief as for what they preserve. One speaker describes how avoiding a multi-level posterior spinal fusion can change the path for a service member near the end of a career. For some patients, the choice between surgery and being boarded out is not abstract at all. That decision can bring people to tears. One guest then lays out the first step in the approach. He says the whole person has to be considered before any device or procedure is chosen. Veterans often live with complex trauma, and some of that trauma predates military service. Psychosocial treatment comes first, not as an add-on. Only after that groundwork does the conversation shift toward the actual pain generator. The guests note that pain physicians have sometimes focused too narrowly on neuromodulation and not enough on structural spine disease. They discuss degenerative spine disease, spinal stenosis, and neurogenic claudication as the kinds of problems that need a clearer algorithm. Interspinous devices such as Minuteman enter the discussion as one more practical option. These techniques are framed as a way to spare large vessels and nerves while still treating the pain generator. The tone stays collegial as they walk through the algorithm. The close thanks the guests, points listeners toward Aspen and Miami, and invites support for the Return to Duty Foundation and the podcast itself.

As heard by us

Pain Unfiltered turns veteran pain care into a practical clinical discussion, balancing spine pathology, function, and less invasive options.

Pain Unfiltered treats veteran pain care as a practical clinical discussion. Dr. Patrick Buchanan and Dr. Timothy Deer move from psychosocial treatment to structural spine disease, spinal stenosis, neurogenic claudication, and less invasive options that may help patients stay on…

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For a veteran-care listen that stays close to real spine decisions, press play.

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