Emergency Medicine, Pain Management, Trauma Care, Prehospital Risk Stratification, Hyperbaric Medicine

In 2019, Milan Ridderikhof obtained his PhD at the University of Amsterdam on the topic of “pain management in acute trauma patients”. Since then, he has continued to expand this line of research, systematically evaluating all aspects of pain, including pain measurement, patient-related factors, organizational issues related to acute pain management, and the clinical content of pain treatment strategies in the Emergency Department (ED). He was the first Emergency Physician in AMC who obtained his PhD and the founder of the scientific committee in the ED, as before this young specialty started there was a non-existent scientific structure in the ED. 

He collaborates closely with the Department of Anesthesiology and is well integrated into its research infrastructure. Dr. Ridderikhof is affiliated with two research institutes: Amsterdam Movement Sciences and Amsterdam Public Health.

He has successfully supervised two PhD candidates as co-supervisor (D. Kolk, defense on 24 May 2022; L. Veldhuis, defense on 26 October 2023 – the latter project initiated by Ridderikhof himself). Currently, he supervises two additional PhD candidates, including M. de Grunt, whose research focuses on the use of ketamine for (prehospital) pain management. M. McCahary just started as PhD Candidate with Ridderikhof as copromotor. 

In recent years, Ridderikhof has twice been awarded prestigious ZonMw grants as the principal investigator (totaling €184,000 and €250,000) and has completed the associated prospective multicenter RCTs. In addition, he has contributed to several other funded research proposals as a team member, collectively leading to the acquisition of over €2 million in research funding. In addition to these collaborative projects, Ridderikhof has demonstrated the ability to develop and sustain his own independent research lines. Using surplus funds from his two ZonMw grants, he is currently setting up a long-term prospective cohort study in the ED (RELIEF Study), focusing on pain perception and evaluation of current clinical practice in acute pain management—a clear gap in the existing literature. Additionaly, he is currently doing the Universitary Master 'Health Informatics' at the University of Amsterdam.

Each year he supervises several students performing their Master thesis and Bachelor thesis. He is a member of the research consortium conducting the FORE-PAIN trial, a prehospital RCT comparing fentanyl and S-ketamine in trauma patients. He is also part of another research group studying the effectiveness of Erector Spinae Plane Blocks for managing renal colic pain.

Additionally, Ridderikhof continues to draft and revise manuscripts from his ongoing research, including:

• A ten-year follow-up evaluation of pain management after the implementation of an ED pain protocol,

• The effect of FICB (Fascia Iliaca Compartment Block) on delirium incidence in a multicenter RCT,

• The use of lidocaine to reduce propofol-induced pain in the ED,

• A descriptive study of current pain management practices in polytrauma patients,

• Measuring comfort in relation to NRS pain scores,

• A qualitative study on comfort and definitions in patients in the ED

Over the years, he has published multiple papers, also as first and last author, has authored several chapters in an Emergency Medicine Handbook and currently has 47 papers indexed in PubMed/Medline.