• • BASIC PRINCIPLES OF PAIN TREATMENT
• • NEUROMODULATION AND SCS FOR PAIN
• • CRANIOFACIAL PAIN
• &
• • INTERVENTIONAL METHODS IN PAIN AND CADAVER COURSE
• • TNDER - SFAEC - 3^rd PAIN SURGERY AND CADAVER COURSE

Dear Colleagues and Course Participants,

We are delighted to invite you to the “Multidisciplinary Pain Management Course,” which will take place at Ankara University on December 5–7, 2025. This meeting is organized as a joint event of the “Ankara University Pain Management Group,” the Turkish Neurosurgical Society – Stereotactic Functional Pain and Epilepsy Surgery (SFAEC) Group, and the Neuromodulation Society.

The fact that this meeting is being held at Ankara University is no coincidence. Ankara University is one of the few institutions in Turkey that initiated pioneering practices in pain management. Procedures such as cordotomy and nerve blocks entered routine practice in the 1960s. The first modern radiofrequency device in Turkey was used at Ankara University in the 1970s. Similarly, the first surgical treatments for trigeminal neuralgia and, in particular, the routine implementation of trigeminal radiofrequency rhizotomy were carried out in the Department of Neurosurgery at Ankara University during the 1970s. From the 1990s onwards, with the development of Algology units within the Departments of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Neurology, and Physical Therapy, new approaches in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Pain emerged; a dynamic process began in guiding patients with pain toward specialized treatment methods. All the departments we mentioned above have been jointly working, providing education, and holding regular patient councils in the treatment of pain patients for nearly 30 years.

The central organization of this course was initiated by the faculty members of the Ağrı Council at Ankara University. In addition, it has been developed with the participation and support of the Turkish Neurosurgical Society, the Stereotactic Functional Pain and Epilepsy Surgery Group (TND-SFAEC), and the Neuromodulation Society. The III cadaver course of the TND-SFAEC group has been incorporated into this program. This approach prevented similar separate courses from being held during the same period. Thanks to this collaboration, the organization of similar courses in the same period has been avoided, resources have been saved, and the multidisciplinary concept has been strengthened. I would like to express my special thanks to the society and group presidents, Prof. Dr. Hayri Kertmen, Prof. Dr. Cihan İşler, and Prof. Dr. Atilla Yılmaz.

In addition, Ankara University has hosted faculty members in the past who played significant roles in pain management. The most prominent among them is Prof. Dr. Yücel Kanpolat, one of the pioneers of Pain Surgery worldwide. Since the 1970s, he carried out the first pain surgery practices and interventions at Ankara University; in particular, he developed his own techniques in CT-guided percutaneous pain interventions, cordotomy, and Radiofrequency applications for Trigeminal Neuralgia, achieving worldwide recognition in this field. Prof. Dr. Yeşim Ateş from the Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation also made important contributions in the field of Algology. Unfortunately, we have lost both of them. Therefore, in this meeting, we have dedicated a section to their memory.

In this course, the topics will be presented by physicians and scientists from various specialties who have expertise in “Pain” in our country. The first two days will be dedicated to oral presentations on “Fundamental Principles of Pain Management,” “Neuromodulation and Spinal Cord Stimulation,” “Craniofacial Pain,” and “SCS Programming Techniques.” On the third day, a cadaver course including pain interventions will be held for a limited number of physicians.

Additionally, our program will feature a guest speaker from abroad: Prof. Dr. Jan Vesper, a faculty member of Neurosurgery at Heinrich Heine University (Düsseldorf, Germany), who is one of the leading names in Europe in the field of pain surgery. He will deliver “State of the Art” lectures on Neuromodulation applications in Pain Management and will participate in the training program.

As you know, due to its nature, the Diagnosis and Treatment of Pain is a medical field that can only be conducted with the involvement of many specialties. With this feature, this course stands as the first of its kind in Turkey as a multidisciplinary and joint “Pain” meeting. We believe that this meeting and training program will establish a new tradition in terms of a multidisciplinary approach to pain.

We will be honored and very pleased to meet our colleagues who are interested in and wish to participate in this event at Ankara University on December 5–7, 2025.

Respectfully,