Consultative services are also available for resuscitation and monitoring of unstable patients, conscious sedation for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, and evaluation and treatment of acute and chronic pain. Special Services Acute and chronic pain are treated in the department's outpatient Institute for Pain Medicine. Services offered include comprehensive evaluation, diagnostic and therapeutic nerve blocks, and placement of spinal cord stimulators and intrathecal pumps.
Physicians also participate in treating patients with cancer pain.
A clinical psychologist and physical therapist are available for consultation to outpatients. Through the Institute's Acute Pain Service, anesthesiologists provide placement and management of epidural infusions for control of postoperative pain. Physicians may call the Institute directly to make referrals, speak with a physician, or consult about a patient. The Institute for Pain Medicine is a special service of the Department of Anesthesiology at West Penn.