Acute Pain Services
The Acute Pain Service was started out in 2009 at HGH. The initial coverage was for postoperative patients who required advanced pain management based on their clinical needs. The service was provided by anesthetists specialized in pain management.
The advanced pain management includes use of Pain Controlled Analgesia pumps to deliver IV narcotics or PCA pumps to deliver local anesthetic infusion through Epidural or Regional Nerve Block catheters. These services are mostly initiated post operatively in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit and the dedicated Anesthesia Block Rooms.
The Pain Service now has expanded to cover acute non-surgical pain in the wards. It also receives consultations for patients with chronic non cancer and cancer pain for initial acute pain management and further referrals to Pain Clinics. The APS now includes pain linked nurses, anesthesia residents, fellows and medical students who join in to understand basics of pain management. Presently the services are mostly for HGH and Surgical Specialty Care and sees about 400 patients monthly on an average.
The service now has extended its work to include training of ward nurses and nurse specialists to extend its coverage across the corporation. The service aims to be Anesthesia Led Nurses Driven in the near future.
