Anne T. Cipta, M.D. (anesthesiologist and pain management specialist), Ms. Jan Belden, (Nurse Practitioner in Pain Management), are from Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLUMC), CA, USA. From October 29 through November 8, they worked closely with the Chinese physicians at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital (SRRSH) in the management of different kinds of pain, such as acute or chronic pain, malignant tumor pain and postoperative pain.
Quite a few Patients were diagnosed and treated by Dr. Cipta in Clinic in the few days that she was with us. While pain is in some ways a gift to us--a way that the body calls attention to an emergency--chronic pain may serve no purpose and resist relief measures. There were several cases which demonstrated the impact that chronic pain can have on a person’s quality of life. One patient had suffered neuropathic pain for many years, another had quit his job due to pain, and one person had sought medical help almost everywhere because of arthralgia. Dr. Cipta served them professionally, with pain-management programs for each.
Dr. Cipta also participated in morning ward rounds, seeing the patients in the ICU who were suffering acute pain, or severe pain after surgery, or cancer-related pain. In addition to that, she spoke at Grand Rounds, and did bedside teaching for doctors and nurses, sharing her medical knowledge with her Chinese colleagues.
SRRSH recognizes that being kept as free as possible from pain is a universal human desire. One of our goals of service is to “Recognize the importance of adequate pain relief to our patients; relieve pain as far as possible”. SRRSH is committed to minimizing pain during treatment and maintaining a high level of patient comfort. The hospital has initiated several pain management services which have been well received. We teach our obstetric patients techniques for managing their labor to make it less painful. We offer a pain management clinic, gastroendoscopy examinations with IV sedation, IV sedation to eliminate pain during the surgical removal of any teeth. We also endeavor to make end of life care as pain-free as possible.
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