Oscar de Leon-Casasola

MD
Anesthesiology
Buffalo Spree Top Doctor 2024

Dr. de Leon-Casasola is a Buffalo Spree Top Doctor! See all of our physicians who made this year's list.

Top Doctors 2024

Cancers Treated:

Specializing In:

Cancer Pain Neuropathic Pain Ultrasound Guided Interventional Pain Procedures Intrathecal Pump Placement and Management

Research Interests:

Advances in analgesic therapy Physiology and pharmacology of epidural opioids Perioperative surgical outcomes Thoracic and cardiac anesthesia Control of acute and chronic cancer pain

About Oscar de Leon-Casasola

Biography:

Dr. Oscar de Leon-Casasola is the Senior Vice-Chair, and Professor of Anesthesiology (Tenure Track), Department of Anesthesiology, and Professor of Medicine at the University at Buffalo, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. He is also Chief of the Division of Pain Medicine and Professor of Oncology at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Dr. de Leon-Casasola was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal Techniques in Regional Anesthesia and Pain Management from 2000 to 2011. He also served in the Editorial Board of Seminars in Pain Medicine, the Journal of the Spanish Society of Pain, and the Journal of the Argentinean Society of Anesthesiologist. 

Dr. de Leon-Casasola received his medical training at the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala after obtaining a degree in Music with Specialty in Piano. He then underwent surgical residency SUNY at Downstate Midical Center, followed by anesthesia residency at SUNY-Buffalo. He is board certified in Anesthesiology, Critical Care Medicine and Pain Management. He has served as Director of the Acute Pain Service, Director of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit, and Chief of Critical Care Medicine at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. He has received many honors and awards and has served as Visiting Professor at several Universities in the US, Latin-America and Europe.

Dr. de Leon-Casasola has lectured at more than 150 academic institutions and hospitals throughout North and South America, and Europe. He has authored or co-authored more than 100 papers in major scientific journals, and has been a chapter contributor in many books. He has published the books: Cancer Pain – Pharmacological, Interventional, and Palliative Care Approaches (Elsevier), Acute Pain Management (Cambridge University Press), Interventional Techniques for the Treatment of Chronic Pain (Glosa), and The Science of Pain: An Illustrated and Clinically Oriented Guide (iBook: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/the-basic-science-of-pain/id1174147456?mt=11)

Dr. de Leon-Casasola is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Management (ASRA) where he currently serves as Past-President, and has served as the Chair of the Scientific Committee for that Society’s pain meeting. He is also a member of the Pain Medicine Committee of the American Society of Anesthesiologist (ASA) and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, Adult Cancer Pain Panel. He served as the Chair of the Regional Anesthesia Committee of the ASA until 2010. He served as a member in the Task Force of the ASA that created the Society’s Guidelines for the treatment of Chronic Pain Management that were published in 2010 and currently serves as the Co-Chair of the Committee drafting the Acute Pain Guidelines for the ASA and the American Pain Society.

Dr. de Leon-Casasola has been honored with many awards; the most recent ones include “Top Doctors in the US,” “ Best Doctors in the US,” and “100 Top Docs in Buffalo” for the last 15 years.

Positions

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • Professor of Oncology
  • Chief, Division of Pain Medicine
  • Department of Anesthesiology

Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo

  • Professor of Anesthesiology and Medicine

Background

Education and Training:

  • MD - Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, Guatemala City, Guatemala

Residency:

  • State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY
  • School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo

Board Certification:

  • Anesthesiology, American Board of Anesthesiology
  • Critical Care Medicine, American Board of Anesthesiology
  • Pain Medicine, American Board of Anesthesiology

Honors & Awards:

  • Past-President American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine

Featured on Cancer Talk


Publications

  • de Leon-Casasola OA. Opioid therapy in 2012: a call for a high degree of attention to detail. Introduction. J Pain Symptom Manage 2012;44(6 Suppl):S1-3 (PMID: 23218231)
  • de Leon-Casasola OA. Opioids for chronic pain: new evidence, new strategies, safe prescribing. American J of Medicine 2013;126(3 Suppl 1):S3-S11 (PMID: 23414718)
  • Swarm RA, Abernethy AP, Anghelescu DL, Benedetti C, Buga S, Cleeland C, DeLeon-Casasola OA, Eilers JG, Ferrell B, Green M, Janjan NA, Kamdar MM, Levy MH, Lynch M, McDowell RM, Moryl N, Nesbit SA, Paice JA, Rabow MW, Syrjala KL, Urba SG, Weinstein SM, Dwyer M, Kumar R. Adult cancer pain. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2013;1;11:992-1022.  PMID: 23946177
  • de Leon-Casasola OA. A review of the literature on multiple factors involved in postoperative pain course and duration. Postgrad Med. 2014;126:42-52.  PMID: 25141242
  • Mahathanaruk M, Hitt J, de Leon-Casasola OA. Perioperative management of the Opioid Tolerant Patient for Orthopedic Surgery Anesthesiology Clinic 2014;32:923-932   PMID: 25453671
  • Shaparin N, Gritsenko K, Garcia Roves D, Shah U, Schultz T, de Leon-Casasola OA. Peripheral Neuromodulation for the Treatment of Peripheral Neuralgia Pain Research and Management 2015;20:63-66.  PMID: 25848844
  • de Leon-Casasola OA. Occipital Nerve Stimulation for the Treatment of Patients with Medically Refractory Occipital Neuralgia. Neurosurgery 2015;77:345-346.  PMID 26197206
  • Nalamachu C, de Leon-Casasola OA, Robinson CY, Galer BS, Gould E, Gammaitoni A. An Analysis of Rescue Medication Utilization from a 3-Month, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study in Patient with Low Back Pain Treated With Single-Entity, Twice Daily, Extended Release Hydrocodone. Pain Medicine 2015;16:2338-2343  PMID: 26301791
  • Gordon DB, de Leon-Casasola OA, Wu CL, Sluka K, Brennan TT, Chou R. Research Gaps on Practice Guidelines for Acute Postoperative Pain Management in Adults: Findings from a Review of the Evidence for an American Pain Society Clinical Practice Guideline. Journal of Pain 2016;17:158-166   PMID: 26719073
  • de Leon-Casasola OA Interventional Management of Head and Face Pain Anesthesiology 2016;124:515  PMID: 26785437
  • Chou R, Gordon DB, de Leon-Casasola OA, Rosenberg JM, et al. Management of Postoperative Pain: A Clinical Practice Guideline From the American Pain Society, the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, and the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Committee on Regional Anesthesia, Executive Committee, and Administrative Council Journal of Pain 2016;17:131-157 PMID 26827847
  • de Leon-Casasola OA, Mayoral V. The topical 5% lidocaine medicated plaster in localized neuropathic pain: a reappraisal of the clinical evidence. Journal of Pain Research 2016;9:67–79  PMID 26929664
  • Videla S, Samper-Bernal D, and de Leon-Casasola OA. Corticoides for via epidural. Consideraciones farmaceutico-farmacologicas para su uso en la practica clinica. DOLOR 2016;31:142-148
  • Deer, T. R., Pope, J. E., Hayek, S., Bux, A., Buchser, E., Eldabe, S., De Andrés, J. A., Erdek, M., Patin, D., Grider, J. S., Doleys, D. M., Jacobs, M. S., Yaksh, T. L., Poree, L., Wallace, M. S., Prager, J., Rauck, R., DeLeon, O., Diwan, S., Falowski, S. M., Gazelka, H. M., Kim, P., Leong, M., Levy, R. M., McDowell II, G., McRoberts, P., Naidu, R., Narouze, S., Perruchoud, C., Rosen, S. M., Rosenberg, W. S., Saulino, M., Staats, P., Stearns, L. J., Willis, D., Krames, E., Huntoon, M. and Mekhail, N. The Polyanalgesic Consensus Conference (PACC): Recommendations on Intrathecal Drug Infusion Systems Best Practices and Guidelines. Neuromodulation: Technology at the Neural Interface 2017;20:96-132.  doi:10.1111/ner.12538   PMID: 28042904
  • Provenzano DA, Buvanendran A, de León-Casasola OA, Narouze, S, Cohen SP.  Interpreting the MINT Randomized Trials Evaluating Radiofrequency Ablation for Lumbar Facet and Sacroiliac Joint Pain: A Call From ASRA for Better Education, Study Design, and Performance.  Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2018 Jan;43(1):68-71. doi: 10.1097/AAP.0000000000000699. PMID: 29135886
  • Suresh S, Ecoffey C, Bosenberg A, Lonnqvist PA, de Oliveira GS Jr, de Leon Casasola O, de Andrés J, Ivani G. The European Society of Regional Anaesthesia and Pain Therapy/American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine Recommendations on Local Anesthetics and Adjuvants Dosage in Pediatric Regional Anesthesia.  Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2018 Feb;43(2):211-216. doi:10.1097/AAP.0000000000000702. PMID: 29319604
  • Peer M, de Leon-Casasola OA. A critique of the latest consensus panel for intrathecal therapy.Techniques in regional anesthesia and pain management 2011; 154:167-171
  • Hitt JM, de Leon-Casasola OA. Complications of intrathecal drug delivery systems. Techniques in regional anesthesia and pain management 2011; 154:162-166
  • de Leon-Casasola OA. Implementing and managing intrathecal pumps. Techniques in regional anesthesia and pain management 2011; 154:155-157
  • de Leon-Casasola O. New developments in the treatment algorithm for peripheral neuropathic pain.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) 2011; 12Suppl. 3:S100-S108
  • Chenthilmurugan H, Mahathanaruk M, de Leon-Casasola OA. The epidural trial. Techniques in regional anesthesia and pain management 2011; 154:150-154
  • da Silva FC, Santos Thuler LC, de Leon-Casasola OA. Validity and reliability of two pain assessment tools in Brazilian children and adolescents. Journal of clinical nursing 2011; 2013-14:1842-1848
  • Swarm R , Lynch M , Moryl N , Murphy BA , Nesbit SA , Oakes L , Obbens EA , Paice JA , Rabow MW , Syrjala KL , Urba S , Levy MH , Karver SB , Janjan NA , Abernethy AP , Anghelescu DL , Benedetti C , Blinderman CD , Boston B , Cleeland C , Coyle N , DeLeon-Casasola OA , Eilers JG , Ferrell B , Weinstein SM. Adult cancer pain. Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network : JNCCN 2010; 89:1046-1086
  • De Le—n-Casasola O. Intrathecal therapy for cancer pain management. Revista de la Sociedad Española del Dolor 2010; 173:162-168
  • Demmy TL, Nwogu C, Solan P, Yendamuri S, Wilding G, DeLeon O. Chest tube-delivered bupivacaine improves pain and decreases opioid use after thoracoscopy. Annals of thoracic surgery 2009;874:1040-1046; discussion 1046-1047
  • De Leon-Casasola OA. Pain pathways and mechanisms of neuropathic pain. Informe medico 2009;116:369-375
  • de Leon-Casasola OA. Spinal cord and peripheral nerve stimulation techniques for neuropathic pain.Journal of pain and symptom management 2009; 382 Suppl.:S28-S38
  • de Leon-Casasola OA. Current developments in opioid therapy for management of cancer pain. Clinical journal of pain 2008; 24 Suppl. 10:S3-S7
  • de Leon-Casasola O. Implementing therapy with opioids in patients with cancer. Oncology nursing forum 2008; 35 Suppl.:7-12
  • Swarm R, Lynch M, Montana GS, Nesbit S, Oakes L, Obbens EA, Paice J, Syrjala KL, Urba S, Weinstein SM, Levy MH, Janjan NA, Grossman SA, Anghelescu DL, Benedetti C, Boston B, Cleeland C, Coyle N, Deleon-Casasola OA, Eidelman A, Eilers JG, Ferrell B, National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). Adult cancer pain. Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network : JNCCN 2007; 58:726-751
  • De Andres J, Valia JC, Cerda-Olmedo G, Quiroz C, Villanueva V, Martinez-Sanjuan V, de Leon-Casasola O.Magnetic resonance imaging in patients with spinal neurostimulation systems. Anesthesiology 2007;1064:779-786
  • de Leon-Casasola OA. Multimodal approaches to the management of neuropathic pain: the role of topical analgesia. Journal of pain and symptom management 2007; 333:356-364