Anesth Pain Med.  2016 Apr;11(2):201-206. 10.17085/apm.2016.11.2.201.

An analysis of consultations requested to a pain clinic

• Yoon JR
• Jeong SR
• Jung SY
• Yoon HJ
• Kim TK
• Kim YS

• KMID: 2358486
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.17085/apm.2016.11.2.201

Abstract

BACKGROUND
The study investigated in detail the current status of the consultations requested in a pain clinic. We evaluated the characteristics of the consultations to determine the kind of contents requested, referring departments and factors including demographics, co-morbidities, previous medical problems, and the descriptions of the reasons for the consultation to the pain clinic.
METHODS
Clinical data were collected in the authors' institution between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2013. The medical records were reviewed and compared. Characteristics of both outpatients and inpatients were analysed.
RESULTS
Data from 1,140 patients was available for this study. Seven hundred thirteen individuals belonged to the outpatient group and 427 individuals belonged to the inpatient group. Orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, and otolaryngology were the main departments that requested consultations to the pain clinic. The most frequent requested lesion and diagnostic term were low back and lumbar spinal stenosis, respectively, and the most common reason for consulting was for "control of pain not controlled by medications." Factors that were significantly different between the two groups were gender, questions about other illnesses apart from the main diagnoses, history of specific diseases, acute onset, cancer, operation within 3 months, and physical system abnormalities.
CONCLUSIONS
The medical problems addressed by a pain clinic consultation service were diverse. It is rational to develop standardized guidelines for pain consultations, and treatment strategies aimed at alleviating pain per se as well as caring for comorbid conditions.

Keyword

Consultation; Inpatient; Outpatient; Pain clinic

MeSH Terms

Acute Disease
Demography
Diagnosis
Humans
Inpatients
Medical Records
Neurosurgery
Orthopedics
Otolaryngology
Outpatients
Pain Clinics*
Referral and Consultation*
Spinal Stenosis

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Number of patients referred to the pain clinic compared to increased number of outpatients visited without consults.

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  Fig. 2 Departments requesting pain clinic consultation. OS: orthopedic surgery, NS: neurosurgery, PS: plastic surgery, Hemato-Onco: hematology and oncology, GY: gynecology, GI: gastrointestinology, GS: general surgery, OB: obstetrics, CS: chest surgery.

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  Fig. 3 Classification of lesions causing chief complaints.

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  Fig. 4 The top 20 diseases for consultation. PHN: post-herpetic neuralgia, CRPS: complex regional pain syndrome, MFPS: myofascial pain syndrome, SSNHL: sudden sensorineural hearing loss, CPSP: central post-stroke pain syndrome.

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