10 Years Survey of Pain Clinic

Background: Recently, pain clinic is attracting attention and interest of both physicians and laymen. It is the purpose of this article to analyze our 10 years' experience to seek and improve better protocol of treating pain. Methods & Materials: We analyzed retrospectively 11,235 patients who visited the clinic during 10 years from 1986 to 1996. Total number of hospital visits was 51,908. Male to female ratio was 35：65(3910：7325). Treatment modalities employed were SGB(stellate ganglion block), TPI(trigger point injection), etc. Results: Yearly distribution showed a gradual upward curve until 1992 and remains in a horizontal pattern thereafter. Of age distribution, 6th decades occupied the largest proportion(27.29%). As of disease entities, Low back pain & lower extremities pain comprised of the majority(34.01%) and the epidural block was most frequently given as a treatment. Conclusion: Pain clinic is improving rapidly as an important part of medical science in Korea and outpatients of clinic are on an increasing trend. So, anesthesiologists should be make every efforts to research for treatment of good quality.