“PAIN MANAGEMENT- A SUPER-SPECIALTY” ::- DR. NEERAJ JAIN
M.D., FIPP (USA)
Sr. Consultant Spine & Pain Specialist
"Despite the Quantum of patients suffering from pain in India with startling statistics, pain still remains inappropriate & inadequately treated. Although tremendous scientific & technological advances have been made, the knowledge & techniques are highly
underutilized. This is due to lack of dissemination of information to clinicians.
The treatment of the acute, chronic & cancer pain is demanding & challenging. Effective pain management presents a significant challenge for physicians, other healthcare professionals, and their patients.
There have been many advances in the understanding& usefulness of an intervention at right time in selective patients producing excellent results. Our ultimate goal is to cure & care people suffering from pain, make them productive human beings for the society
and increase their self esteem so that they can live life as normal individuals.
Interventional pain procedures scores over both medicine and surgery, as they do not have side effects like medicines. Surgeries for pain, have now limited indications, usually as a last resort.
The interventional pain procedures produce immediate pain relief, can be performed with ease by pain physicians without anesthesia as outpatient or daycare and adequate duration of pain relief obtained and suitable for surgically unfit & debilitated patients, procedure can be repeated safely if required.
Advances in cardiovascular surgery or high-tech investigative facilities in India are on par with any advanced country, at least in some cities. Though skills, advanced equipments are available, still pain relief is not available to majority of its population. At least a million people in India suffer from unrelieved cancer pain. The number of people suffering from other chronic pain conditions is anyone’s guess.
Paradoxically, India stands high chance to become the health destination for pain management for the world, by using interventional pain therapies.
With the advancement of technology and science, we have unveiled many aspects of the pain and its treatment. We have to work hard to spread the knowledge of interventional pain techniques.
Unfortunately awareness about pain management among medical professionals is
very limited. In contrast to USA and other developed countries Indian medical
community is not aware of interventional pain management techniques which can
be helpful for many patients suffering from intractable chronic pain.
Under treatment of pain is a major public health concern. It is a silent pandemic. It is cruel to deny people in pain access to effective pain treatment. People should not be suffering needlessly."