Pain Medicine

Introduction to the Department of Pain Medicine The Department of Pain Medicine is a secondary discipline integrating medical care, teaching, and research, and a clinical first-level department. It mainly provides diagnosis and treatment for chronic pain. It has 10 professional medical staff members, including 1 chief physician, 2 associate chief physicians, 2 attending physicians, 2 doctors with PhDs, 2 doctors with master's degrees, and 1 specialized pain nurse. The Department of Pain Medicine adheres to the concept of “treating pain caused by sensory nerve injury at its source” and uses high-standard, refined, and precise “puncture-based minimally invasive techniques” to address various chronic pain problems. Regular daytime and nighttime pain outpatient clinics have been established at the Pazhou Main Campus, the Civil Aviation Hospital Campus, the Sihui Branch, and Guangdong Provincial Water and Power Hospital. More than 15 specialized inpatient beds are available, and subspecialties featuring “spine-related pain, neuropathic pain, and cancer pain” have been developed. The department is equipped with advanced devices dedicated to pain treatment, including a radiofrequency device, plasma radiofrequency device, Carter ozone therapy device, foraminal endoscope, an American Medtronic spinal cord nerve stimulator, a morphine pump, an American SonoSite portable color ultrasound diagnostic system, a Japanese super-laser therapeutic device, and a German WOLF laser therapy device. It performs various minimally invasive interventional techniques under visual guidance, including DSA, CT, and ultrasound, and uses precise identification of targets assisted by neuroelectrophysiological stimulation to eliminate causes. Day surgeries for various pain treatments are performed to relieve patients’ pain to the greatest extent, shorten hospitalization, and promote rehabilitation. The department has led and completed multiple projects funded by the Provincial Department of Science and Technology, the Provincial Health Department, and the Municipal Health Bureau. Two scientific research fund projects are currently underway, and one multicenter clinical study (PNS) has been completed; nearly 100 papers have been published in SCI and other journals at various levels; the department holds 4 national utility-model patents; and its staff have contributed to more than 10 medical books, among which “Diagnosis and Treatment of Neuropathic Pain” and “Radiofrequency Analgesia Therapy” were included in the national “11th Five-Year Plan” key book series. The department undertakes teaching of the undergraduate course “Diagnosis and Treatment of Pain,” including lectures, clinical observation, and internships, for the Department of Anesthesiology of Southern Medical University and Jinan University. Each year, 30–40 doctors from across the country come to the department for study and advanced training. Each year, the department organizes and holds provincial-level “Training Courses on New Advances in Refractory Pain” and advanced training courses on “Application of Radiofrequency and Ozone in Clinical Pain,” both of which receive high praise from numerous trainees. Scope of Diagnosis and Treatment 1. Neuralgia: Characterized by sudden onset and cessation, episodic attacks, and persistent aggravation; manifestations include lightning-like, cutting, burning, and needle-prick sensations; examples include trigeminal neuralgia, postherpetic neuralgia, diabetic neuralgia, sciatica, phantom limb pain, and residual limb pain; 2. Myofascial pain: Characterized by aching and distending pain, pain caused by cold, at night, or upon waking in the morning, relief after activity or physical therapy, and local tenderness; examples include stiff neck, rotator cuff injury, tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis of the humerus), golfer’s elbow (medial epicondylitis of the humerus), and lumbar and back muscle strain; 3. Discogenic pain: Characterized by pain caused by prolonged sitting, standing, or walking and relieved when lying flat; examples include cervical and lumbar disc herniation, discogenic low back pain, and abdominal pain; 4. Pain from vertebral burst fractures: Characterized by pain when turning over and getting out of bed; examples include osteoporotic or tumor-related vertebral compression fractures; 5. Joint pain: Characterized by pain, swelling, and restricted movement; examples include periarthritis of the shoulder, knee arthritis, and sacroiliitis; 6. Head and facial pain: Examples include trigeminal neuralgia, cervicogenic headache, migraine, cluster headache, and tension headache; 7. Cancer pain: Examples include tumor infiltration pain and metastatic pain; 8. Ischemic pain: Characterized by dizziness, blurred vision, tinnitus, and changes in skin color; examples include vertebral artery-type cervical spondylosis, erythromelalgia, femoral head necrosis, vasculitis, varicose veins of the lower limbs, Raynaud disease, cerebral infarction, and myocardial ischemia; 9. Generalized pain: Examples include osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, ankylosing spondylitis, and generalized pain after COVID-19; 10. Others: Dysmenorrhea, postpartum pain, growing pains in children, chronic fatigue syndrome, insomnia, intractable hiccups, psoriasis, somatic symptom disorder, and others.