Dear Friends!

Welcome to the 22nd Annual Advanced Gabor Racz Interventional Budapest Pain Conference and Practical Workshops. Our workshops are now fully booked and we couldn’t be more excited! Our program reflects significant changes, developments and recognizes the needs in our evolutionary trail. Traditionally over the last twenty-two years, this program developed into the best in this field. The clinical relevance is able to attract the finest speakers just like you will observe. Our emphasis is improvement with increased safety and better quality treatment for patients suffering from intractable chronic pain. Neuromodulation continues to evolve, producing more evidence, improved technology and surprising new treatments and modalities for conditions that one would never have expected.

In order to meet the high demands, we are adding additional cadaver stations so that all Participants are offered the best chance of learning all new and innovative procedures. This program has been put together following a lot of consideration by the program committee.

Effective treatment in chronic pain, central pain, neuropsychiatric disorders, peripheral and central painful conditions is becoming reality. One inescapable fact is that interventional pain works and saves lives from unnecessary misuse and overuse of opioids. The surprising long term favorable outcomes and reduction in surgical interventions in spinal disorders is coming from multiple studies, laboratory and clinical studies in the field. We are very fortunate to have Dr. Arnold Caplan, PhD with us to share his thoughts and vision on Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine.

Ultrasound guidance is gaining wider use and greater acceptance. We are happy to see that the opportunity is here for our participants to take part in the educational process for the third year in a row.

Our Awards Ceremony not only allows us to recognize the new graduates of WIP’s FIPP Examinations but also graduates of the CIPS Ultrasound Examination. I must recognize the work of Dr. Peter Staats who is the Chairman of the Board of Education Committee. For the third year in the row, we shall recognize five of the greats for the Trail Blazer Award. We will be honoring Dr. David Niv, posthumously, as well as Dr. Serdar Erdine, Dr. Ricardo Ruiz-Lopez, Dr. Edit Racz and Dr. Péter Sótonyi. Why five? Because I did not wish to miss any one of them and one never knows what the future brings. It has been so great and such an incredible journey with all of you.

The FIPP Examination for the major part came out of our initial use of cadavers 35 years ago at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas. The numbers of FIPP graduates is now over 1,000 and the respect and credibility together with the pride of those who successfully completed the process is spreading worldwide.

Every year we have to earn the quality stamp of approval as evidenced by the participants coming from so many countries. Budapest has the culture, climate, food, music and the ambiance where you make and keep friends. One of the hallmarks is that every single participant leaves with more knowledge for better and safer patient care.

I have to thank the local arrangement chairperson, Dr. Edit Racz, and the committee. Dr. Racz has been faithfully helping me organize 22 years of conferences along with Dr. Péter Sótonyi, with Semmelweis University, for his continued support year after year. The Scientific Program Committee with their wisdom along with the ever present vision of the late Dr. James E. Heavner, have succeeded in putting together an outstanding program. We are grateful for the leadership of Dr. Craig Hartrick, our WIP President, along with the Executive Committee, the Section Chairs and all the members who come to participate.

The Ultrasound Program has been in cooperation with Dr. Agnes Stogicza. This program reflects that the faculty themselves are leaders in their field as well as WIP. The planning of the local arrangements through the local arrangement committee and Sandra Vamos and Bea Golovanova with Congressline has always been outstanding. The WIP office staff of Dianne Willard and Mark Tolliver and the volunteers that make the process work are all appreciated, especially Paula Brashear, my long-time secretary.

We look forward to seeing you in Budapest.

Gabor B. Racz, MD, DABIPP, FIPP
Grover E. Murray Professor
Professor and Chair Emeritus Anesthesiology TTUHSC
Founder and Past President of World Institute of Pain
Past President of Texas Pain Society