Initial Experiences With Integration of Palliative Medicine and Specialist Pain Services in a Tertiary Cancer Care Center in India

Abstract

Pain management constitutes a pivotal aspect of palliative care. Certain instances of distressing pain are significantly relieved through interventional pain methodologies, demanding the expertise of pain specialists. Our perspective revolves around the integration of these 2 facets, envisaging a symbiotic relationship that could enhance patient outcomes. A prospective assessment was carried out within a collaborative clinic, uniting the realms of pain management and palliative medicine. Anonymized patient information was scrutinized to grasp the advantages of this amalgamation and identify strategies to address any inherent deficiencies. Furthermore, an illustrative case study was delineated, spotlighting the collaborative dynamics at a systemic level. During the period spanning from November 2020 to June 2021, a total of 43 patients received consultations at this collaborative clinic. Each patient was exposed to a comprehensive pain management regimen, with the most frequently conducted procedure being an intercostal nerve block, which was administered in 9.30% of cases. For the provision of effective pain relief within the palliative care context, the confluence of joint consultations from cancer pain specialists emerges as a requisite measure. This approach carries the promise of optimizing pain control and augmenting the quality of palliative care.

Keywords:

• Pain management
• palliative care
• joint clinic
• multimodal analgesia

Acknowledgments

We thank all the patients and their caregivers attending the newly established joint clinic, office staff, medical social worker - Ms. Sonali Jadhav, and clinician administrators for their encouragement in developing the clinic services.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Data availability statement

Data are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.