Team introduction: The Department of Pain Management adheres to the mission of relieving pains of patients with its unique medical technologies, supports pain treatment for the hospital and publicizes pain knowledge to the general public. The Department opened the pain clinic since April 1995 and the pain patient ward in February 2003, respectively. It has 2 professors, 3 associate professors, 2 attending physicians and 2 junior attending physicians, 40-45 rotating resident physicians (including advanced trainees) and 17 nurses. The pain clinic has set up consulting rooms, invasive treatment rooms, non-invasive treatment rooms and infrared thermography examination diagnosis rooms, equipped invasive treatment equipment, anesthesia machine and monitor, first-aid equipment, ultra laser treatment instrument, shock wave treatment instrument, deep muscle stimulation instrument, percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation instrument and far infrared thermal imager. The clinic treats about 25,000 outpatients each year. The ward has 41 beds, 7 extra fixed beds and another 30 beds at the Sichuan Fifth People's Hospital (a branch campus). The clinic treats and cures patients with cervical spondylosis, lumbar disc herniation, shingles pain, various neuralgia, cancer pain, muscle and joint pain, osteoporosis and other complicated pains as well as certain non-pain patients. The Department is the first to implement and promote standardized pain evaluation and treatment across the hospital. The VAS score for pain assessment is included as the fifth vital signs (followed by body temperature, breath, pulse and blood pressure) into the vital signs record sheets. In addition, VAS evaluation is performed based on pains of the patients, and the results are included in their medical histories. In recent years, ultrasound-guided technologies have been introduced into pain treatment and varied forms of ultrasound-guided nerve block treatments were carried out, which have greatly improved blocking efficiency, reduced complications and shortened the time of hospital stay to the satisfaction of the patients.

1. Spine-related pain: The main scope of treatment includes pains of head, shoulder, back and leg due to spine-related and joint-related diseases. One of the featured treatment therapies of the Department is to conduct comprehensive treatment combining drug therapy with minimally invasive intervention. On such basis, the Department has developed obvious disciplinary advantages, and dedicated itself to standardized pain management for a long time, aiming to improve the effect of treating pains under the precondition of safety and maintain sustainable and steady development of the subspecialty. Currently, the Department has rich experience in diagnosing and treating difficult and complicated pains. Its special skills include diagnosis and treatment of cervical and lumbar disc herniation and osteoporosis such as percutaneous vertebroplasty on the basis of the anti-osteoporosis medications. 

2. Neuropathic pain: The main treatment covers patients with neuropathic pains, including herpes zoster neuralgia and post-herpetic neuralgia, trigeminal neuralgia, glossopharyngeal neuralgia, intercostal neuralgia, sciatica and phantom limb pain. The curative effects of neuropathic pains, which are complicated and chronic pains, are barely satisfactory at home and abroad due to the unknown pathogenesis and the severe pain. In such subspecialty, the Department performs treatments on the basis of drug therapy, focuses on ultrasound-guided nerve block and various neuromodulation technologies, such as spinal cord stimulation(SCS), pulse radiofreqency, IDDS etc, adopts minimally invasive technologies via supplementary aid of psychotherapy, aiming to relieve pains and improve life quality of the patients with its advantageous technical strength.

3. Cancer Pain Subspecialty: It is mainly devoted to diagnosis and treatment of complicated and chronic pains, including cancer pain syndrome, cancerous neuropathic pain and metastatic bone cancer pain. Its minimally invasive interventional treatment and surgical pain treatment technologies are highly recognized with strong features. Orderly comprehensive treatments are performed for patients with cancer pain based on other advantageous specialties of the hospital. The advantages of the hospital in interventional radiology are utilized to conduct minimally invasive interventions for patients with chronic cancer pain, including CT-guided radiofrequency adjustment of abdominal plexus and anhydrous ethanol injection, CT-guided paravertebral doxorubicin injection and DSA-guided intrathecal drug delivery system (IDDS) placement. It cooperates closely with the Cancer Center to apply for setting up demonstration wards as well as to carry out and promote standardized treatment of cancer pain across the hospital.