As part of its mission to bring the latest in medical science and research, Yashoda Academy of Pain Medicine, a part of Yashoda Group of Hospitals recently organised a two day workshop on interventional pain management at Yashoda hospitals, Secunderabad. The workshop was unique in that, the delegates were not only demonstrated various procedures by pain specialists but also were supervised to perform them on cadavers.

The day one of the workshop focused on the current understanding of chronic pain, assessment and various therapeutic options available through interactive sessions between delegates, spine surgeons, neurosurgeons, pain specialists, anaesthetists and radiologists while day two of the workshop focused on training the delegates on various interventions to relieve pain originating from the musculo-skeleton, spine, nerves and visceral cancers and was conducted in the premises of Gandhi Hospital.

The workshop was inaugurated by Kameshwar Rao, president ISSP, B B Mishra, vice president ISSP, Bhimeshwar Rao, national vice president ISA amidst other prominent delegates including eminent local and national pain specialists. Dr G S Rao, managing director, Yashoda Group of Hospitals, presided over the workshop as a Chief Guest.

Speaking on the occasion, Rao said, “Pain specialists and anaesthesiologists at Yashoda Hospitals have long recognised that chronic pain is not only one of the most common and under-recognised symptoms in hospitals but also the most under-treated. It can cause immense physical and emotional distress not only to the patient but also to their near ones. This workshop is an attempt to make this area of specialisation (pain management) be recognised as a special branch of medicine.”

Dr Sudheer Dara, pain specialist and workshop director, said, “This workshop is the result of a coordinated and concerted effort by these unsung specialists to disseminate specialist knowledge and skills for patients’ benefit. The goal of the workshop is to encourage the delegates to understand the problem of pain, it’s implications for the physician and patients’, the assessment of pain and to teach the various interventions to relieve pain and, later on, to apply them in clinical practice.”

The faculty of the workshop included Dr Kameshwar Rao, dean, Konaseema Institute of Medical Sciences, Dr Kailash Kothari, pain specialist, Mumbai, Dr Karthik Babu, pain physician, Chennai, Dr Muralidhar Joshi and other eminent local and national pain specialists.