OKAYAMA UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

Message from the Director of the Department

Scope of Target Diseases

At Okayama University Hospital, anesthesiologists provide anesthesia care for all surgeries except surgeries that are done under local anesthesia. Consequently, all of our patients are covered under preoperative outpatient services. The “pain examination” conducted at the Pain Center includes the following.
◎ Systemic illness: postherpetic neuralgia, diabetic neuropathy, postsurgical pain, cancer-related pain, myofascial pain syndrome, etc.
◎ Head and neck pain: functional headache, trigeminal neuralgia, spine-related diseases (intervertebral disc hernia), traumatic head and neck syndrome, postherpetic neuralgia, thalamic pain, etc.
◎ Shoulder and arm pain: spine-related diseases (cervical spondylotic radiculopathy), scapulohumeral periarthritis, stiff shoulders, thoracic outlet syndrome, phantom limb pain, injury to the brachial plexus, ischemic disease (arteriosclerosis obliterans), etc.
◎ Chest, abdomen, and back pain: thoracic postoperative syndrome, spine-related disease (thoracic vertebra intervertebral joint symptoms, etc.), intercostal neuralgia, chronic pancreatitis, etc.
◎ Back and leg pain: spine-related diseases (intervertebral disc hernia, lumbar canal stenosis, etc.), sacroiliac disease, compressed fracture, hip osteoarthritis, knee osteoarthritis, peripheral vascular diseases (Buerger’s disease and others), perineal pain, etc.

Features and Description of Medical Care

In the preoperative outpatient service, we examine the general condition of a patient so that anesthesia can be performed safely and properly during an operation. We perform perioperative management before and after surgery, striving to minimize risks associated with operation and anesthesia. Based on the results of examinations conducted at each department, we evaluate whether the safety of operation or anesthesia can be maintained. Using blood tests, x-ray tests, and ultrasonography, we evaluate and examine the cardiopulmonary function and other complications, in detail. Based on these results, we make a perioperative management plan that is judged as most appropriate for a patient and then clearly explain the methods and risks of anesthesia to the patient.
At the Pain Center, at the first consultation, we take sufficient amounts of time to ask a patient about suffering aside from pain. Furthermore, for making a diagnosis we perform blood test, X-ray, CT, and MRI as needed. Our therapeutic approaches include nerve block therapy, pharmacological therapy, and rehabilitation therapy, among which we individualize the treatment strategy for each patient. Additionally, we examine pain comprehensively in close cooperation with other departments.