This includes a team of committed palliative care physicians, nurses, social workers and office staff. We aim at improving quality of life with the available resources. We treat the person as a whole & not just the disease.

Patients seen are:

• Patients with Cancer – pain, symptom & supportive management.
• Patients with Pain- mainly includes patients with chronic pain (pancreatitis, peripheral vascular disease, low backache, fibromyalgia, myofascial pain syndromes, post-herpetic neuralgia etc.)
• Patients with Lymphoedema both cancerous and non-cancerous origin.
• Patients with Advanced, non-responsive and debilitating diseases like Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases, Neurological Incapacitating Conditions, Cerebrovascular accidents, HIV infection, End-stage Systemic Diseases (heart diseases, renal disease, liver disease) etc.

In-patient care is provided for patients when symptoms like pain, nausea, vomiting, constipation, intestinal obstruction, breathlessness, insomnia, delirium, convulsions, bedsores etc, are difficult to control on out-patient basis.

Empowerment of the family members in various aspects of patient care like skin care, mouth care, bedsore care etc, is undertaken to make them self-reliant, confident and to involve them actively in the care for their loved ones.

The very word home care signifies the active total care provided at home to the patients and their families, who cannot approach the hospital for their treatment. Home care service is provided free of cost to all the deserving patients.

Objectives are:

• To provide active total care to the patient and family at home.
• To improve quality of life of the patients and theirfamilies.
• To set forth a team effort (by empowering the family) in the care of patients.
• To provide rehabilitation for the patients & their relatives.
• To help patients live & die at the highest possible quality at home.
• To provide bereavement support to the family after the death of the patient.

The concept of home care was adopted by AIMS in Jan 2001. It is provided for deserving patients who reside within a radial distance of 40 kms from the hospital.

The patient who needs home care service has to register their names. They are assessed using a Performa, which is filled through the interaction with the patient’s caregivers.

On each day, the home care team visits 4 to 7 homes within the same geographical area. A multidisciplinary team consisting of the doctor, nurse, social worker and the co-coordinator visits the patients at home. If patients in one geographical area are less, then two areas are covered at a time.

Minor procedures like ascitic tapping, urinary catheterization & bladder wash, wound debridement, nasogastric intubation, enemas & rectal evacuation, sponge bath, skin care, mouth care, bowel care, tracheostomy care, intravenous & subcutaneous infusions & injections, bedsore management, lymphoedema management, trigger point injections etc are done by the team at home.

Beneficiaries are:

I.P- Patients who are admitted in the hospital and need no more hospitalized active treatment, can be looked after at home, need continued follow up and those who fall within the range of 35kms from the hospital.

O.P- Patients who make visits to the O.P clinic but cannot do so in the future due to declining health condition, who need palliative treatment at home and who fall within the range of 35kms from the hospital.

Lymphedema is a notoriously debilitating progressive condition with no known cure.
Worldwide, 140-250 million cases of lymphedema are estimated to exist, with filariasis being the most common cause. Kerala has a high incidence. Because lymphedema is disfiguring and sometimes painful and disabling, it can create mental, physical, and sexual problems.

We have specially trained palliative care nurses to provide patient tailored lymphoedema care. The majority of patients can be treated successfully with conservative measures.

The majority of the pains can be managed with pain medicines alone, while a minority of the pain cases may require hi-tech interventions, of which this department is well equipped and is a leader in such services in the country.

The interventions available for pain relief include:

• Stellate ganglion block
• Celiac plexus block
• Hypogastric Nerve block
• Chemical lumbar sympathectomy
• Intercostal Nerve block
• Continuous epidural analgesia
• Epidural neurolysis
• Epidural steroid instillation
• Trans-cutaneous nerve stimulation
• Trigger point injections
• Facet joint instillation
• Sacro-iliac joint infiltration
• IV Morphine trial
• IV Lignocaine trial
• Post-operative epidural analgesia
• Splanchnic nerve block
• Spinal subarachanoid neurolysis
• Single nerve Block
• Paravertebral nerve block
• Intra articular steroids

This concept has been introduced in this Institution with the objective of providing a pain free surgical experience to our patients. This venture is in line with the goal of achieving a ‘Pain Free Hospital’ status for this institution by 2020.

We work in partnership with surgical departments for the management of postoperative pain. Post operatively the patient stays pain free, comfortable and satisfied with the overall hospital experience.

•  Wound healing is faster
•  Patients are able to get back to their normal lives earlier.
•  The postoperative hospital stay has been reduced to nearly half
•  Ensured better bed utilization and faster turn over.
•  This enables the patients to get mobilized early