Blocking nerves using radio frequency waves, injecting ozone gas between spinal discs, new drugs... the latest in pain management has arrived in Calcutta.

According to doctors, the new intervention techniques and drugs bring “real relief” to patients suffering from terminal cancer, spondylitis, slipped disc, rheumatoid arthritis and other chronic pain.

“The intervention techniques have been successful in most cases,” said Goutam Das, pain management specialist of Daradia, which also has on its rolls neurosurgeons, physical medicine specialists and psychiatrists.

The nerve-block procedure is effective in giving relief to patients suffering from terminal cancer. Surveys suggest that 60 per cent of cancer patients are diagnosed with the disease at an advanced stage. In most cases, the disease is accompanied with unbearable pain.

Such patients are usually administered high-dose painkillers, but they tend to become ineffective after a certain period.

In intervention management, the nerve causing the pain is permanently disabled with radio frequency waves.

“Our main concern in treating terminal cancer patients is to provide immediate relief from pain and improve the quality of life,” said Subir Ganguly, head of the department of radiotherapy at Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital.

“Non-intervention pain management is not always possible, as morphine is not easily available in the market. Hence, the nerve-block method is the only effective option,” he added.

Intervention techniques are also employed for treating chronic low-back, mid-back or neck pain.

A few years ago, the cause for low-back pain could not be identified in 90 per cent cases even after an MRI or a CT Scan, said a doctor.

The identification process has improved a lot with the intervention technique, in which nerves attached to the spine are subjected to local anaesthesia separately. “Once located, the tissue causing pain can be treated accordingly,” said Das, of Daradia.

The treatment includes injecting ozone between the discs. The gas shrinks the volume of the discs, releasing the pressure on the nerve.

A batch of new drugs, too, is proving “effective” in treating spondylitis and arthritis.

Milan Chetri, consultant in internal medicine at Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals, said: “Drugs like infliximab and etanarcept can stop the progression of diseases like akylosing spondylitis. The drugs block the action of the Tumour Necrosis Factor, the main cause of pain in arthritis and spondylitis.”