The Pain Medicine and Palliative Care Department offers specialized, interdisciplinary care focused on relieving suffering and optimizing the quality of life (QOL) for patients facing a serious illness like cancer. Our services are available from the time of diagnosis, concurrent with active treatment, and are not limited to end-of-life care. We integrate expert symptom management, advanced Interventional Pain techniques (like Nerve Blocks, Neurolytic and Advanced procedures like Flumoscopy / CT Guided Vertebroplasty, Sacroplasty for pain refief as per the clinical scenario and Epidural catheters with Pumps), and dedicated emotional and spiritual support to treat the "Total Pain" experience.
Palliative care is specialized, team-based care that focuses on the patient as a whole person—not just the disease. Our team aims to ensure you live a life that is as active, fulfilling, and pain-free as possible, regardless of the stage of your illness.
Our department is dedicated to providing comprehensive, compassionate palliative care that addresses physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, ensuring optimal quality of life throughout the cancer journey.
We align with global guidelines recommending that all patients with advanced cancer be referred to specialist palliative care early in the disease course, often within eight weeks of diagnosis, alongside curative treatments. This early involvement has been shown to improve QOL and overall survival.
We treat the comprehensive burden of cancer, addressing physical symptoms such as pain, nausea, fatigue, insomnia, and shortness of breath, as well as associated psychosocial and spiritual distress (known as "Total Pain").
We provide continuous support and discussion to help patients and their families understand the illness and clarify their goals of care.
Our program utilizes a multi-faceted approach, combining pharmacological expertise with specialized interventional procedures for refractory pain.
Utilizes the WHO analgesic step-care approach. This involves starting with non-opioids (NSAIDs/Acetaminophen) and progressing, if needed, to mild and then strong Opioid medicines (Morphine, Fentanyl) for moderate-to-severe pain. This is combined with Adjuvant Analgesics (Steroids, Anticonvulsants, Antidepressants) to target specific pain types (e.g., nerve or bone pain).
The WHO Pain Ladder: We manage your pain in a step-by-step, evidence-based way, starting with basic medicine and moving to stronger opioids only when necessary. We also use "Helper Drugs" to target specific pain (like nerve pain) and reduce reliance on heavy painkillers.
An advanced technique used for pain that is difficult to control (refractory pain). Specialists inject local anesthetics and/or neurolytic agents directly into or around a nerve or nerve plexus (e.g., Celiac Plexus Block for abdominal cancer pain) to permanently or temporarily block pain signals from reaching the brain.
Targeted Pain Shutdown: For severe, localized pain (like pressure on a nerve), we use an injection to effectively "switch off" the pain signal at its source. This provides superior relief for specific areas without making your whole body feel drowsy.
Includes counseling, meditation, relaxation techniques, and coordination with spiritual and social workers. We also assist with home health services, practical support with daily living activities (ADLs), and caregiver support.
Holistic Wellness: We treat the whole person, not just the pain. Our team includes counselors and social workers who help you manage the stress, anxiety, and emotional challenges of your illness, giving you practical help and emotional support.
We proactively introduce palliative care from the time of diagnosis for advanced cancer patients, adhering to International standards. This ensures symptom burden is managed from the outset, which has been shown to improve QOL and potentially survival.
Our team works simultaneously with your curative oncologists, ensuring that palliative interventions do not conflict with anti-cancer treatments. We manage the symptoms of chemotherapy-induced neuropathy, radiation damage, and pain caused by tumors pressing on nerves.
We provide a dedicated Interventional Pain Service specializing in advanced neurolytic techniques (e.g., Radiofrequency Ablation/RFA) and implantable pumps for patients with severe, refractory pain who have not responded adequately to the WHO ladder.
We perform minimally invasive procedures like Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty for spine pain caused by metastatic compression fractures, providing rapid and significant pain relief.
MBBS, MD-Anaesthesiology, MNAMS
Senior Consultant & former director - Palliative carePain and Palliative Care Medicine
MBBS, MD-Anaesthesiology (2015), Post Doctoral Fellowship - Regional Anaesthesia & Pain Management (Dec 2017), Fellowship in Chronc Pain Management (Feb 2021)
ConsultantPain and Palliative Care Medicine
MBBS, MD-Physiology (Oct 2008), Fellowship Palliative Care (July 2019)
ConsultantPain and Palliative Care Medicine