A Clinical Survey of the Patients in Neuro-Pain Clinic at Ajou University

Abstract

Background: The first pain clinic opened in korea in 1973 at Yonsei University Hospital, however, since then the number of pain clinics has gradually increased, as has the number of patients visiting them.This increase in patient has caused concerns about the way in which pain is managed, therefore, we conducted a retrospective review of data according to the sex, age and disease in an attept to aid us in planning for the future of our pain clinic.

Methods: We analyzed 1,282 new patients who had visited our pain clinic and 828 inpatients who were admitted to our pain clinic between March 2006 and February 2007.

Results: The most frequent age group was in the sixties in outpatient and in the seventies in inpatient.In addition, the incidence of disease in new patients and inpatients was as follows: in new patients, lumbar herniated intervertebral disc 16.5%, hyperhidrosis 12.3%, cervical disc disorder 10.5%, acute herpes zoster 8.2%, postherpetic neuralgia 7.9%, and trigeminal neuralgia 7.0%; in admitted patients, acute herpes zoster 17.6%, trigeminal neuralgia 15.6%, lumbar herniated intervertebral disc 13.0%, postherpetic neuralgia 11.2%, hyperhidrosis 9.8%, and complex regional pain syndrome 7.0%.

Conclusion: The patients visiting our pain clinic have presented with a wide variety of diseases. This improved care reflects an effort to expand our fields not only to the management of outpatients but also inpatients, as well as to the treatment of new fields of disease. In the future, We need to manage various pain patients not only in outpatients but also in inpatients to expand our field even through pain clinic is rapidly growing in Korea.