Pain clinic opened at Manipal Hospital, Bangalore

Mangalore-based Manipal Hospital has set up a pain clinic to treat severe pain conditions arising out of various reasons among patients.

The state-of-the-art Pain Relief Centre will work as an outpatient department attached to Manipal Hospital, reports said.

The pain clinic will provide the latest treatmant techniques to address unbearable acute as well as chronic pain conditions provide relief to scores of people who are living with unbearable pain conditions. The facility is .

Acute pain can be originated due to injury to bones especially ribs or because to infectious diseases like herpes zoster affecting any part of the body including neck back or from headaches.

The pain clinic at Manipal Hospital employs a ne technique that temporarily block the pain impulses passing through the nerve with local anaesthesia.

Pain treatment at the clinic generally involves two steps: First the pain specilalists determine the transport pattern of the pain by blocking the pain signals at the sensory level. After diagnosing the pattern, the pain clinic will employ techniques to repeat the sensory block a few times at weekly intervals.

Cold packs are one of the methods the Manipal Pain Relief Centre would employ to block nerve impulses and this can be effective for around two weeks.

Application of Radio Frequency (RF) current administered for 10 to 12 weeks is another method to tackle severe pain conditions.

All the pain conditions both chronic and acute pain in patients of any age group can be treated with several techniques at the facility, according to Dr H Sudarshan Ballal, Medical director, Manipal Health Systems.

The pain clinic at Manipal Hospital would be headed by Dr Suresh R Joshi, pain specialist with over three decades of experience in managing pain conditions, reports said.

Pains can be  a warning signal of impending or actual tissue damage. If pain persists after three to six months it becomes chronic pain. In that case, the chronic pain cannot be  a arning signal any more but a confirmation that treatment is required, according to Dr. Joshi has stated.

The 600-bed hospital which has 55 clinical departments including oncology, orthopaedics and neurology found that pain management centre was an indispensable specialty for its patients suffering with acute, chronic and severe pain resulting out of terminal cancer, trigeminal neuralgia or other conditions.

Bangalore’s Manipal Hospital comprises specialized institutes like Manipal Heart Institute (MHI), Manipal Institute for Neurological Disorders (MIND), Manipal Institute of Nephrology and Urology (MINU), Manipal Comprehensive Cancer Centre (MCCC), Manipal International Institute of Dental Science (MIIDS), Manipal Institute of Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders (MIDEM), Manipal Andrology and Reproductive Service (MARS) and Manipal Hospital Diagnostics Services (MHDS) amongst its 43 clinical departments.

Manipal Heart Institute is one of Asia’s largest heart care centres with a team of well trained, dedicated professionals. It has the capacity to perform 15 heart surgeries per day, 30 Cardiac procedures per day including Angioplasty Valvuloplasty, Device Closure of ASD / VSD etc. It has a success rate of 98% and one of the lowest infection rates in the world. Manipal Heart Institute has a 90 bedded cardiac care facility, 35 Adult and 20 bedded Coronary Care Unit.

Manipal Institute for Neurological Disorders (MIND) conducts about 1500 major Neurosurgical operations annually.

The Manipal Comprehensive Cancer Centre has dedicated departments of surgical, radiation and medical oncology, all co-existing with the entire gamut of super-specialities such as Neurosurgery, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Urology, Maxillofacial Surgery, Histopathology, Nuclear Medicine, Immunology, state-of-art Intensive Care Units and computerized cancer registry.
Besides, the Bangalore system has three secondary care hospitals – Manipal Northside Hospital, Manipal Speciality Hospital and Manipal Tumkur Hospital, a chain of clinics in various corporate houses, including one at Jayanagar and Bangalore airport with a pharmacy chain.

Manipal Hospital, Bangalore is amongst a handful in the country to have state-of-the-art research facilities for stem cells, molecular diagnostics and genetics.

Manipal Hospital is India’s first hospital to be ISO 9001:2000 certified for clinical, nursing, diagnostics and allied areas.

The hospital won Golden Peacock National Quality Award 2005 in the service category.