Department of Palliative Medicine

General information

Palliative Medicine is newly developed specialty in SMS hospital. Previously it was running as a specialty clinic under Dept. of General Medicine since 2014. Now Government of Rajasthan has recognized it as a separate specialty and issued orders to establish it as a new department on 20 Feb. 2020. Now the specialty has 3 full time consultants in the department. This is the first Palliative Medicine department in government sector in Rajasthan.

Till date about 8000 patients have registered in the department.

Scope of palliative medicine

This department deals with the patients suffering from life limiting illness due to cancerous and non cancerous causes. It gives full support to patients regarding alleviating their physical, psychological, social and spiritual sufferings. This dept provides relief from pain and other distressing symptoms like breathlessness, constipation, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea caused by disease itself or associated with medicines used for treatment. Pain is not only covered by medicines but different neurolytic blocks are provided to make patients pain free. Dept also has adequate supply of opioids (Morphine) to treat the intractable pain. It provides holistic care by integrating psychological and spiritual aspect of patients care.

It offers a support system to help the family cope during the patient’s illness and in their own bereavement. It uses a team approach to address the needs of patients and their families including bereavement counseling. Thus, it aims to enhances the quality of life of patients and their caregivers. Dept has the facility of a social worker also who provides counseling to not only patients but their family members too.

Department performed various procedures like: pleural tap, plurodosis, opioid titration to measure current amount of analgesia needed, abdominal paracentsis and treatment of fluid and electrolyte imbalance.

Department is also equipped with lypmhapress machine which is used to reduce the lymphatic swelling of upper and lower limbs particularly useful for operated breast cancer patients.

Department also deals with noncancerous  patients suffering from chronic pain like rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, trigeminal neuralgia, trigger point injection, lower backache and slip disc, sciatica. These patients are treated with image guided intervention techniques which includes radiofrequency ablation and chemical neurolysis and ozone therapy.

UG teaching:

PG Teaching:

There is regular rotation of post graduate students of various specialties. Currently four post graduate students of Department of Medicine are doing their dissertation in this department.

Journal Club

Dept performs 3 seminars and one journal club in a week.

Faculties- Department has three faculties as follows:

1.     Dr Ashwin Mathur-  Professor  and HOD, MBBS, MD, FICP,CCEPC

2.     Dr. Yogendra Singhal- Associate Professor, MBBS, MD