Massachusetts General Hospital

BiographyClinical Care: My clinical expertise is focused on the treatment of pain related to disorders of the spine. I also treat patients with a wide range of pain conditions, including cancer-related pain, complex regional pain syndrome, and post-herpetic neuralgia.

Education and Research: My research focuses on clinical trials of new interventions, devices and medications for the treatment of pain. I teach fellows, residents, and medical students about the evaluation and treatment of pain conditions. In addition, I author book chapters and original articles, and give lectures on selected topics in pain medicine.

Research

Multicenter, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind, Randomized Study to Compare the Efficacies of Transforaminal Corticosteriod versus Transforaminal Etanercept versus Transforaminal Saline (Control) for the Treatment of Lumbosacral Radicular Pain

Phase I/II, Multicenter, Open-label, Single Administration, Dose Finding Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Safety and Tolerability of Intradiscal rhGDF-5 for the Treatment of Early Stage Lumbar Disc Degeneration

Publications

View my most recent publications at PubMed

Original Articles:

-Zhang Y, Wood M, Gilligan C. Spinal cord stimulation in a patient with spinal epidural lipomatosis.Pain Med, 2011 Mar;12(3):377-81

-Linn S, Knoller N, Gilligan C, Dreifus U. The sky is a limit: errors in pre-hospital diagnosis by flight physicians. Am J Emerg Med 1997 15:316-320.

-Pignatelli M, Gilligan CJ. Transforming growth factor beta in gastrointestinal neoplasia, wound healing and immune response. Baillieres Clin Gastroenterol 1996; 10:65-81

Other Publications:

-Gilligan C, Rathmell J. Complications in Pain Management, Essential Clinical Anesthesia, Vacanti C, et al Eds. Cambridge Univ. Press 2011

-Rathmell J, Gilligan C:Low Back Pain. American Acad Orthopaedic Surgeons Web site: Orthopaedic Knowledge Online 2011

-Gilligan C, Stojanovic M, Rathmell J. Emergencies in the Pain Clinic, Lippincott, Bonica's Management of Pain, 2009

-Gilligan C, Rathmell J. Pain Management: Evidence, Outcomes, and Quality of Life: A Sourcebook. Anesthesiology, July 2009, 111:1, p.221