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Pain Management Centre
Location: Clinic G (Professorial Clinic), 1/F, Tower B
Service hours: By appointment
Our professor and sub-specialists:
- Please view here for information
Consultation Fee:
| Professor / Associate Professor | Assistant Professor |
Initial | HK$1,090 – HK$2,210 | HK$790 – HK$1,850 |
Follow Up | HK$860 – HK$1,990 | HK$640 – HK$1,400 |
Remarks: The above charges refer to doctor consultation fees only and exclude fees for other procedures, medication, laboratory services, etc. The total charge is subject to the attending doctor's discretion and depends on the patient's condition. Details on ancillary charges are available at the Admission and Cashier Counters.
Pain Service
Pain can be categorized as 1) chronic non-cancer pain; 2) cancer pain; 3) acute pain.
Chronic non-cancer pain
Chronic non-cancer pain is pain that has persisted or recurrent for more than 3 months. Chronic pain is a major problem in Hong Kong, and affects around 30% of the local population. We aim to provide a comprehensive, holistic and integrated chronic pain service using a multi-disciplinary approach with the aim of relieving pain, reducing suffering, improving psychosocial functioning and enhancing quality of life.
Our pain specialists will provide consultations within outpatient and inpatient settings. Referrals are accepted from other medical specialists and allied health professionals. After consultation, other healthcare professionals including physiotherapists, psychologists, occupational therapists, or other medical specialties may also be involved. We can offer a one-stop service from initial consultation to pharmacological therapy, psycho-behavioural techniques, physical therapy and specialist interventional procedures.
We manage all types of chronic non-cancer pain. Below includes a list of chronic non-cancer pain conditions that we commonly encounter. However, our scope of service is not restricted to these pain conditions.
- Back pain
- Neck pain
- Limb pain
- Thoracic pain
- Trunk pain
- Joint pain
- Sacral pain
- Migraine
- Tension type headache
- Trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (TCA)
- Temporomandibular disorders
- Persistent idiopathic facial pain (atypical facial pain)
- Trigeminal neuralgia
- Other neuropathic orofacial pain: other cranial or regional neuropathies
- CRPS type 1
- CRPS type 2
i) Peripheral Neuropathic Pain
- Peripheral Nerve Injury
- Trigeminal Neuralgia (mentioned in orofacial pain)
- Painful polyneuropathy: eg idiopathic, diabetes mellitus
- Post-herpetic neuralgia
- Painful radiculopathy: cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral nerve roots
- Unspecified
ii) Central Neuropathic Pain
- Central post stroke pain
- Central pain from spinal cord injury
- Central pain from multiple sclerosis
- Central pain from brain injury
- Unspecified
i) Primary visceral pain
- Chest pain syndrome
- Epigastric pain syndrome
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Abdominal pain syndrome
- Bladder pain syndrome
- Pelvic pain syndrome
ii) Secondary Visceral Pain
- Visceral pain from persistent inflammation i.e. ulcerative colitis, SLE
- Pain from vascular mechanisms i.e. refractory myocardial ischaemia
- Pain from mechanical mechanism i.e. stenosis
- Fibromyalgia
- Myofascial pain
i) Post-surgical pain
- Post amputation pain: stump pain, phantom limb pain
- Post-thoracotomy pain
- Post-mastectomy pain
- Post-arthroplasty (i.e. chronic pain after knee replacement surgery)
- Post-herniotomy pain
- Others
ii) Chronic post-traumatic pain
- Chronic pain after burn injury
- Whiplash injury associated pain
- Others
Chronic Cancer Pain
Pain is the most common symptom for cancer patients, and is one of the most important cause for suffering. Both patients with advanced cancer pain as well as those who completed curative treatment can suffer from chronic pain.
Our pain specialists are experienced in the management of cancer pain, and will working closely with other medical professionals such as oncologists, surgeons and palliative care physicians to provide a comprehensive care package for cancer pain patients. These include tailored pharmacological management and interventional pain procedures. When indicated, additional referral for psychological intervention, spiritual support, and physical therapy will be made. Referrals are welcome from all clinical specialties.
The following cancer pain conditions we commonly manage. This is not an exclusive list and conditions that are not listed here may also be managed at Gleneagles hospital.
Pain caused by primary cancer or metastases.
i) Chronic visceral cancer pain
- Head and neck regions
- Thorax
- Abdomen (i.e. carcinoma of pancrease)
- Pelvis
ii) Bone cancer pain
iii) Neuropathic cancer pain
- Central nervous system involvement
- Peripheral nervous system involvement
iv) Other chronic cancer pain
i) Post radiotherapy pain
- Radiation induced neuropathy
- Soft tissue damage
- Bone damage
- Others
ii) Post-surgical pain (also mentioned in chronic non-cancer pain)
- Post-mastectomy pain
- Post-thoracotomy pain
- Others
iii) Post cancer medicine pain
- Painful chemotherapy induced polyneuropathy
- Bisphosphonates: painful osteonecrosis of jaw
- Corticosteroids: painful avascular necrosis of the femoral head
- Others
Acute Pain
Acute postsurgical pain is the most common type of acute pain. Our acute pain service will provide pain management for patients who have undergone surgery following the principles of multimodal analgesia. This ranges from formulating multimodal analgesic regimens to providing advanced analgesic techniques. The use of advanced techniques such as patient controlled analgesia (PCA), epidural analgesia and specific nerve blocks/ catheter techniques can effectively reduce postoperative pain and possibly improve outcomes. Patients who receive these advanced analgesic techniques will be reviewed daily by a specialist anesthesiologist.
In addition to acute postoperative pain, our pain service will also manage patients with other types of acute pain conditions.
Listed below are some acute pain conditions that we manage (not including postoperative pain). This list is not exclusive and other conditions will also be entertained.
- Acute burn injury
- Acute musculoskeletal pain
- Acute back pain: i.e. intervertebral disc protrusion
- Pain after trauma: fractures, chest trauma
- Labour analgesia
- Medical conditions: ischaemic limb pain, pancreatitis, acute herpes zoster
Interventional Pain Procedures
We offer a range of different interventional pain procedures for pain relief. These pain procedures are generally safe, and effective. They can reduce the need for analgesic medication, improve quality of life, and enhance function.
Below is a list of interventional pain procedures we commonly provide:
Nerve tissues can be targeted and treatment delivered by injection of drugs (local anaesthetics, steroid) or lesioning with radiofrequency ablation (to produce longer lasting analgesia)
i) Facet nerve injection/radiofrequency ablation
- Axial low back pain
- Axial thoracic back pain
- Cervical/ Neck pain
- Whiplash injury
- Cervicogenic headache
ii) Epidural steroid injections
- Discogenic pain
- Failed back surgery syndrome
- Painful radiculopathy
- Spinal stenosis
- Post-herpetic neuralgia
iii) Peripheral nerve injections and/or radiofrequency ablation
- Greater occipital nerve: occipital neuralgia, migraine, cluster headache, cervicogenic headache
- Suprascapular nerve: shoulder pain
- Intercostal nerves: chest trauma, acute herpes zoster, post-herpetic neuralgia, chest wall tumours, nerve entrapment
- Ilio-inguinal/ilio-hypogastric nerves: chronic post-surgical pain
- Genitofemoral nerve: genitofemoral neuralgia
- Pudendal nerves: Perineal pain, pudendal neuralgia
- Articular branches of the hip and knee joint: arthritis
- Other peripheral neuropathic nerve pain
Includes injection of 1) local anaesthetic and steroids; 2) injection of neurolytic drugs such as absolute alcohol; 3) radiofrequency ablation
i) Stellate ganglion injection/radiofrequency ablation
- Peripheral vascular disorders i.e. Raynaud’s, embolism, vasospasm
- Complex regional pain syndrome
- Post amputation pain: phantom pain, stump pain
- Refractory angina pectoris
- Pain from cranial nerve disorders
- Vascular headaches
- Frostbite
ii) Splanchnic nerve injection/radiofrequency ablation
- Pain from upper abdominal viscera
- Pancreatitis
- Cancer pain from upper abdominal viscera
iii) Coeliac plexus injection
- Cancer pain of the upper abdominal viscera eg pancreas
- Upper abdominal visceral pain
- Chronic pancreatitis
iv) Lumbar sympathetic injection/radiofrequency ablation
- Complex regional pain syndrome
- Peripheral vascular disorders eg atherosclerosis, Raynaud’s
- Post amputation pain: stump pain, phantom limb pain
- Frostbite
- Sympathetically mediated pain
- Hyperhidrosis
v) Superior hypogastric block
- Cancer pain from the pelvic viscera
- Chronic pain originating from pelvic viscera
- Pain from gynaecological viscera: eg endometriosis
- Interstitial cystitis
vi) Ganglion impar block/radiofrequency ablation
- Perineal pain
- Pelvis Pain
- Cancer pain from the rectum, perineum, vagina
i) Muscle Injections
Includes injection of local anaesthetic, steroid, and platelet rich plasma (PRP)
- Psoas muscle
- Piriformis muscle
- Quadratus femoris injection
- Trigger point injection
- Others
ii) Joints
Includes injection of local anaesthetic steroid, platelet rich plasma (PRP), and prolotherapy
- Shoulder: glenohumeral joint, subacromial bursa, acromioclavicular joint, bicep tendon
- Hip: intra-articular, greater trochanteric bursa
- Knee: intra-articular, peri-tendon, iliotibial band bursa
- Vertebral facet joints
- Sacroiliac joint (also include radiofrequency ablation of nerves to sacroiliac joint)
i) Trigeminal ganglion radiofrequency ablation
- Trigeminal neuralgia
- Others: neuropathic orofacial pain
ii) Sphenopalatine ganglion radiofrequency ablation
- Persistent idiopathic facial pain
- Postherpetic neuralgia
- Cluster headache
- Migraine
iii) Maxillary nerve radiofrequency ablation
- Idiopathic maxillary neuralgia
- Secondary maxillary neuralgia
- Trigeminal neuralgia
iv) Mandibular nerve radiofrequency ablation
- Trigeminal neuralgia
- Idiopathic mandibular neuralgia
- Secondary mandibular neuralgia
v) Supraorbital and supratrochlear nerve injection/radiofrequency ablation
- Post-herpetic neuralgia
- Trigeminal neuralgia
- Headache disorders
i) Spinal cord stimulation
- Failed back surgery syndrome
- Chronic regional pain syndrome
- Ischaemic limb pain
- Refractory angina pectoris
- Postherpetic neuralgia
- Phantom limb pain
- Peripheral neuropathic pain
- Other intractable neuropathic pain
ii) Intrathecal pump implantation
- Cancer pain
- Painful limb spasm
- Intractable chronic pain conditions
- Lignocaine infusion: chronic neuropathic pain (especially central pain)
- Ketamine infusion: chronic regional pain syndrome, chronic neuropathic pain, refractory acute postoperative pain
- Headache
- Chronic muscle pain
- Chronic neuropathic pain (i.e. post-herpetic neuralgia)
Appointments/Enquires: +852 6933 0115