See Wan Tham, MD

See Wan Tham, MD

Anesthesiology, Pain Medicine

On staff since September 2010

Academic Title: Assistant Professor

Research Center: Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development

  • Biography

    Dr. See Wan Tham is an assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She is a pediatric anesthesiologist and pain physician and provides clinical services as an anesthesiologist and in the multidisciplinary pain management clinic at Seattle Children’s Hospital. She received her MB BS at the University of Sydney, Australia in 2001 followed by anesthesiology residency at the State University of New York (Syracuse). She then completed pediatric anesthesiology fellowship at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Her research focus is on identifying the mechanisms underlying the relationship between pain and sleep in pediatric populations with chronic pain conditions. Her research is funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to understand the longitudinal trajectories of sleep disturbances and autonomic function in children and adolescents with chronic abdominal pain.

  • Patient Testimonials

    • Silveria Connell, WA 06.05.23

      Dr. Tham is an amazing, loving doctor who cares a lot about her patients. Dr. Tham figures out what's going on with the patient to get them the right treatment and care.

    Recommend See Wan Tham, MD

  • Awards and Honors

    Award Name Award Description Awarded By Award Date
    Young Investigator Travel Award American Pain Society (Scholarship/Research) 2012

  • Publications

    Manuscripts in Refereed Journals

    • Tham, S. W., Palermo, T., Vavilala, M., Wang, J., Jaffe, K., Koepsell, T., Dorsch, A., Temkin, N. R., Dennis, D. R., Rivara, F. P.
      The Longitudinal Course, Risk Factors and Impact of Sleep Disturbances in Children with Traumatic Brain Injury
      J Neurotrauma Rehab, 2012 : 29(1)154-61
    • Call TR, Auerbach FJ, Riddell SW, Kiska DL, Thongrod SC, Tham SW, Nussmeier NA
      Nosocomial contamination of laryngoscope handles: challenging current guidelines.
      19608822 Anesthesia and analgesia, 2009 Aug. : 109(2)479-83 PMCID:PMC4006105

    Published Abstracts

    • Lewandowski, A., Law, E., Tham, S. W., Myaing, M., Noonan, T., Palermo, T.
      Associations among smoking and chronic musculoskeletal pain in young adult twins
      The Journal of Pain, 2012 : 13s13

    Other Publications

    • Groenewald CB, Rabbitts JA, Tham SW, Law EF, Palermo TM
      Associations between insufficient sleep and prescription opioid misuse among high school students in the United States.
      34019477 Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 2021 Nov 1 : 17(11)2205-2214 PMCID:PMC8636372
    • Kurtz-Nelson EC, Tham SW, Ahlers K, Cho D, Wallace AS, Eichler EE, Bernier RA, Earl RK
      Brief Report: Associations Between Self-injurious Behaviors and Abdominal Pain Among Individuals with ASD-Associated Disruptive Mutations.
      33175317 Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2021 Sept. : 51(9)3365-3373 PMCID:PMC8110605
    • Tham SW, Palermo TM, Chrisman SPD, Groenewald CB
      Prescription Opioid Misuse and Sports-Related Concussion Among High School Students in the United States.
      34489384 The Journal of head trauma rehabilitation, 2021 Sep 1 : 36(5)338-344 PMCID:PMC8428243
    • Murphy LK, Palermo TM, Tham SW, Stone AL, Han GT, Bruehl S, Garber J, Walker LS
      Comorbid Sleep Disturbance in Adolescents with Functional Abdominal Pain.
      32573267 Behavioral sleep medicine, 2021 July : 19(4)471-480 PMCID:PMC8063352
    • Groenewald CB, Tham SW, Palermo TM
      Impaired School Functioning in Children With Chronic Pain: A National Perspective.
      32487871 The Clinical journal of pain, 2020 Sept. : 36(9)693-699 PMCID:PMC7429324
    • Windsor RB, Tham SW, Adams TL, Anderson A
      The Use of Opioids for Treatment of Pediatric Neuropathic Pain: A Literature Review.
      30985402 The Clinical journal of pain, 2019 June : 35(6)509-514
    • Tham SW, Aaron RV, Palermo TM
      The role of sleep deficiency in the trajectory of postconcussive symptoms in adolescents.
      31322003 Brain injury, 2019 : 33(11)1413-1419 PMCID:PMC7243849
    • Neuhaus E, Bernier RA, Tham SW, Webb SJ
      Gastrointestinal and Psychiatric Symptoms Among Children and Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder.
      30405456 Frontiers in psychiatry, 2018 : 9515 PMCID:PMC6204460
    • Tham SW, Giles M
      Current pain management strategies for patients with erythromelalgia: a critical review.
      30214279 Journal of pain research, 2018 : 111689-1698 PMCID:PMC6121769
    • Tham SW, Li L, Effraim P, Waxman S
      Between fire and ice: refractory hypothermia and warmth-induced pain in inherited erythromelalgia.
      28751508 BMJ case reports, 2017 Jul 26 : 2017 PMCID:PMC5612348
    • Tham SW, Palermo TM, Holley AL, Zhou C, Stubhaug A, Furberg AS, Nielsen CS
      A population-based study of quantitative sensory testing in adolescents with and without chronic pain.
      27780176 Pain, 2016 Dec. : 157(12)2807-2815
    • Tham SW, Fales J, Palermo TM
      Subjective and objective assessment of sleep in adolescents with mild traumatic brain injury.
      25707446 Journal of neurotrauma, 2015 Jun 1 : 32(11)847-52 PMCID:PMC4449620
    • Tham SW, Holley AL, Zhou C, Clarke GN, Palermo TM
      Longitudinal course and risk factors for fatigue in adolescents: the mediating role of sleep disturbances.
      23860262 Journal of pediatric psychology, 2013 Nov. : 38(10)1070-80 PMCID:PMC3809725
    • Tham SW, Palermo TM, Wang J, Jaffe KM, Temkin N, Durbin D, Rivara FP
      Persistent pain in adolescents following traumatic brain injury.
      23911979 The journal of pain, 2013 Oct. : 14(10)1242-9 PMCID:PMC4003883
    • Holley AL, Law EF, Tham SW, Myaing M, Noonan C, Strachan E, Palermo TM
      Current smoking as a predictor of chronic musculoskeletal pain in young adult twins.
      23810151 The journal of pain, 2013 Oct. : 14(10)1131-9 PMCID:PMC3791150
    • See Wan Tham, MB BS
      Measures of Health Related Quality of Life
      In McGrath P., Stevens B., Walker S., Zempsky W. (Ed.), The Oxford Textbook of Pediatric Pain. Oxford University Press., 2013
    • Tham SW, Palermo TM, Vavilala MS, Wang J, Jaffe KM, Koepsell TD, Dorsch A, Temkin N, Durbin D, Rivara FP
      The longitudinal course, risk factors, and impact of sleep disturbances in children with traumatic brain injury.
      22029569 Journal of neurotrauma, 2012 Jan 1 : 29(1)154-61 PMCID:PMC3253307

  • Presentations

    Presentation Title Event Location Date
    The Nexus between Sleep and Pain Grand Rounds Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine Dec. 2021
    Understanding the variability between parent-proxy and child self-report of health-related quality of life in children with Hirschsprung’s Disease compared to children with functional constipation Pediatric Colorectal and Pelvic Learning Consortium Annual Meeting Seattle Children’s Hospital Nov. 2021
    Sleep and Pain Research Seminar Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, University of Pennsylvania April 2021
    Preclinical and Clinical Experimental Models of Sleep Deficiency: Implications for Pain Management 35th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Pain Denver, Colorado May 2016
    Sleep Duration and Pressure Pain Responsivity in Healthy Adolescents Minneapolis, MN May 2014

Overview

Board Certification(s)

Anesthesiology
Pediatric Anesthesiology

Medical/Professional School

University of Sydney Faculty of Medicine, Sydney

Fellowship

Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA

Clinical Interests

Acute and chronic pain management in pediatric population, pediatric regional anesthesia