Biography Dr. Abrecht’s primary clinical responsibility is in pain medicine: outpatient and inpatient, chronic and acute. He seeks to improve the quality of life and functional capacity of this patients using a multi-faceted approach which includes but is not limited to medication management, multi-disciplinary consultation (such as physical therapy, integrative health, or pain psychology), and targeted injections. His research focus is in quality improvement in pain medicine: tracking outcomes that matter to patients and ensuring patient safety remains a priority. In the UCSF Department of Anesthesia & Perioperative Care, he is the Chief of the Division of Pain Medicine. He is also Medical Director of the UCSF Center for Pain Medicine. Role Faculty Location UCSF at Mission Bay Category Clinical Specialties Pain Medicine Education 2018 - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training, University of California - Anesthesiology residency, Brigham and Women's Hospital - Internal medicine internship, California Pacific Medical CenterMD, - , New York University School of Medicine - Pain medicine fellowship, University of California San Francisco Publications Emergency physicians in pain medicine: Workforce trends, competency overlap, gaps, and opportunities for integration. Merz-Herrala JR, Ocampo F, Abrecht CR, Ben Arevalo J, Chai NC Interventional Pain Medicine . Dec 17, 2025 Racial Differences in Postoperative Opioid Prescribing Practices in Spine Surgical Patients. Letchuman V, He L, Mummaneni PV, Agarwal N, Campbell LJ, Shabani S, Chan AK, Abrecht CR, Miller C, Sankaran S, Rambachan A, Croci R, Berven SH, Chou D, Holly LT, Guan Z Neurosurgery . Nov 16, 2022 155. What are the risk factors for continued opioid use in patients following spine surgery?. Nitin Agarwal, Liangliang He, Vijay Letchuman, Erica Langnas, Enrique Vargas, Rhiannon Croci, Saman Shabani, Christopher Abrecht, Sigurd H. Berven, Dean Chou, Zhonghui Guan, Praveen V. Mummaneni The Spine Journal . Sep 1, 2022 Gabapentinoid Use in Perioperative Care and Current Controversies. Patel AS, Abrecht CR, Urman RD Current pain and headache reports . Jan 27, 2022 High-Frequency Impulse Therapy for Treatment of Chronic Back Pain: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Pilot Study. Amirdelfan K, Hong M, Tay B, Reddy S, Reddy V, Yang M, Khanna K, Shirvalkar P, Abrecht C, Gulati A Journal of pain research . Sep 22, 2021 A Contemporary Medicolegal Analysis of Outpatient Interventional Pain Procedures: 2009-2016. Abrecht CR, Saba R, Greenberg P, Rathmell JP, Urman RD Anesthesia and analgesia . Jul 1, 2019 Peripheral Nerve Blocks. Nantthasorn Zinboonyahgoon, Christopher R. Abrecht, Sanjeet Narang Essentials of Interventional Cancer Pain Management . Jan 1, 2019 Prediction of Pain and Opioid Utilization in the Perioperative Period in Patients Undergoing Primary Knee Arthroplasty: Psychophysical and Psychosocial Factors. Abrecht CR, Cornelius M, Wu A, Jamison RN, Janfaza D, Urman RD, Campbell C, Smith M, Haythornthwaite J, Edwards RR, Schreiber KL Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) . Jan 1, 2019 Pain Medicine Board Review. Christopher R. Abrecht Anesthesia & Analgesia . Aug 1, 2018 A Contemporary Medicolegal Analysis of Outpatient Medication Management in Chronic Pain. Abrecht CR, Brovman EY, Greenberg P, Song E, Rathmell JP, Urman RD Anesthesia and analgesia . Nov 1, 2017 (210) Prediction of pain and opioid utilization in the perioperative period in patients undergoing primary knee arthroplasty: psychophysical and psychosocial factors. S. Greenbaum, C. Abrecht, M. Cornelius, R. Urman, R. Edwards, K. Schreiber Journal of Pain . Apr 1, 2017 A Contemporary Medicolegal Analysis of Implanted Devices for Chronic Pain Management. Abrecht CR, Greenberg P, Song E, Urman RD, Rathmell JP Anesthesia and analgesia . Apr 1, 2017 Intrathecal Drug Delivery. Christopher R. Abrecht, Sanjeet Narang Pain Medicine . Jan 1, 2017 Neuropathic Pain. Christopher R. Abrecht, Srdjan S. Nedeljkovic Pain Medicine . Jan 1, 2017 Peripheral Nerve Stimulation. Christopher R. Abrecht, Assia T. Valovska Pain Medicine . Jan 1, 2017 National Perioperative Outcomes for Intrathecal Pump, Spinal Cord Stimulator, and Peripheral Nerve Stimulator Procedures. Abrecht CR, Gabriel RA, Dutton RP, Kaye AD, Michna E, Urman RD Pain physician . Nov 1, 2015 Brachial Plexus Block for Cancer-Related Pain: A Case Series. Zinboonyahgoon N, Vlassakov K, Abrecht CR, Srinivasan S, Narang S Pain physician . Sep 1, 2015 Women have less severe and extensive coronary atherosclerosis in fatal cases of ischemic heart disease: an autopsy study. Smilowitz NR, Sampson BA, Abrecht CR, Siegfried JS, Hochman JS, Reynolds HR American heart journal . Apr 1, 2011
