Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

Pain clinic set up at hospital

MADURAI: In an attempt aimed at providing relief to terminally ill patients, the Department of Anaesthesiology of Government Rajaji Hospital here has established a pain clinic.

According to A. Raja Manoharan, Professor and Head, Department of Anaesthesiology, the main purpose of setting up the pain clinic is to manage chronic and intractable pain suffered by patients.

The services of the clinic are mostly required by terminally-ill cancer patients who suffer in pain.

“Primary cancer spreads usually do not cause any pain. Only when the secondary deposits (the enlarged nodes) compress neighbouring nerve or blood vessel, the patient experiences excruciating pain. Pain is the symptom of malignancy of the disease. Once into that stage they need supportive measures to obliterate pain,” said Dr. Manoharan.

Palliative medicine had become the in-thing in the treatment of terminally-ill cancer patients as the pain threshold would come down drastically in patients at terminal stage of cancer, he said.

“The role of anaesthesiologists is more realised in interventional pain management. The nerve which conducts the pain is identified through a peripheral nerve stimulator and semi-permanent blocks on nerve conduction are created by passing neurolytic agents such as absolute alcohol, phenol and glycerol,” he said.

Technology in the field of palliative care had advanced to a stage where patient-controlled analgesia was available the world over.

A patient, helped by computer-operated motorised micro-pump with a specified lock-in period, could receive drug to get relief from pain, said Dr. Manoharan.

A full-fledged pain clinic would come up at the upcoming intensive respiratory care unit, the construction work for which was going on, he said and added that in the meantime the patients would be treated at the department itself.

The clinic would also treat patients, who had undergone major surgery during the operative and post-operative periods, he said.

The department planned to treat patients suffering from low back ache, head ache and arthritis in a phased manner. Besides, any soft tissue pain such as post-herpetic pain could also be managed well, he said.

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