Pain Management & Neuromodulation Centre
The Guys and St Thomas’ Pain Management and Neuromodulation Centre is internationally recognised as a centre of clinical and academic excellence in the management of chronic pain.
We have a long history of providing traditional chronic pain management treatments such as day case procedures and outpatient treatments.
We’ve also established world prominence in the fields of spinal cord stimulation and other neuromodulation techniques, as well as in addressing the psychological, physical and social impacts of chronic pain with our pain management programmes. This is delivered through the INPUT Pain Unit.
The centre collaborates closely with spinal surgeons in the assessment and treatment of spinal pains, and similarly provides highly specialised, multidisciplinary assessments for conditions including:
- Joint Urology
- Opioid
- Sickle Cell
- Neuropathic
- Pelvic Pain
- Neurofibromatosis
- Joint Paediatric
- Virtual Orthopaedic MDT
- Facial Pain
- Headache
- SCS MDT Clinic
INPUT Pain Unit – Helping people with ongoing pain reach their goals
The INPUT Pain Unit at St Thomas’ Hospital was opened in 1989. We are an NHS service, running pain management programmes throughout the year for patients from all over the UK. We have strong links with King’s College London and an active research programme.
We receive referrals from General Practitioners and Consultants from London and all over England.
Our vision is to provide world-class pain management, good health outcomes and excellent patient experience, based on research, evidence and national and international standards. Our aim is to work together with patients, GPs, consultants, King’s Health Partners, and other healthcare providers to deliver effective and patient-centred care, enhance patients’ quality of life, improve clinical outcomes and deliver world-class teaching.
INPUT operates a busy service comprising of:
- Residential pain management programme
- Residential pre-neuromodulation pain management programme
- Outpatient pain management programme
- Outpatient 1:1 psychology
- Online pain management programme
- Occupational therapy
- Acupuncture
Inpatient acute pain service – Helping patients on our wards to manage their pain
The inpatient acute pain team provides advice for managing pain after surgery. They also see patients who are not necessarily having surgery, but are suffering from severe short-term pain. They carry out daily ward rounds at both Guy’s and St Thomas’, helping patients to control their pain effectively through education and guidance. They also provide education and training programmes for nursing, medical and pharmacy staff, to help them to care for and manage this area of care effectively.
Headache and facial pain service
The Headache Centre at Guy’s and St Thomas’ cares for patients with headache and facial pain disorders.
Our service has a multidisciplinary structure which mean we work with a broad range of other health professionals and clinical services.
Our team includes consultants, clinical psychologists, a neurosurgeon, clinical nurse specialists, headache research experts, clinical scientists, research fellows and research nurses.
As well as serving our local populations of Southwark and Lambeth, we also accept referrals from consultants and other specialists for patients with complex head and facial pain disorders.
Conditions treated
We treat the following headache-related conditions:
- chronic migraine
- cluster headaches
- SUNCT and SUNA headache
- tension type headache
- trigeminal neuralgia
- paroxysmal hemicranias
- hemicranias continua
- medication overuse headache
- new persistent daily headaches
- persistent migraine aura
- post-traumatic headache
- secondary headache disorder.
Research
We have a dedicated research team leading ground breaking research aimed at improving our understanding of chronic pain conditions. Our clinical research is focused on:
- investigating new innovations
- advancing current treatments
- improving the quality of life of patients with chronic pain
Our current research work includes local, national and international clinical studies in areas such as:
- neuromodulation
- endoscopic pain relief interventions
- novel pain medications
- pain management strategies for various client groups including:
- complex regional pain syndrome
- neuropathic pain in patients with diabetes
- chronic pain in trunk and/or limbs
- osteoarthritis
- lower back pain
Download the Pain Management VPP brochure here (PDF 926KB)
