1. Local, Regional, National Awards/Honours/Fellowship by Faculty:
Professor Sukanya Mitra, Head, Department of Anaesthesia & Intensive Care, received certification of appreciation for being granted research award by the Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine (ISCCM) for her research on “Behavioural Pain Assessment Body and its clinical utility in patients admitted in the Intensive Care Unit” in the national conference of ISCCM.
2. No. of Publications by faculty in last one year (Total):
Total publications by the faculty is 36 (including 6 Book chapters) copy attached.
3. New Clinical facility started to combat COVID 19:
The Department of Anaesthesia & Intensive Care, GMCH Chandigarh, provided its technical expertise and practical experience in setting up the ICU in the Sector 48 COVID Hospital. It also actively participated in planning and decision making regarding the infrastructure and care pathways for COVID and SARI patients for the entire hospital. The department also provided vital human resources (Junior Residents, Senior Residents, Technical staff, and Faculty) to run the COVID related services.
The ventilators were also processed and shifted or installed under the Department’s guidance. Department of Anaesthesia provided inputs in preparing specifications for purchase of various emergency COVID care related equipments:
a. Ventilators
b. High-Flow Nasal Cannula (HFNC)
c. HME Filter
d. Closed suction catheter
e. Video Laryngoscope
f. Point-of-care ABG machine.
The Department of Anaesthesia is also involved in the development of systematic approach to working in COVID units in the following ways:
• Planning, execution and logistics of separate Operation Theatres dedicated for COVID patients.
• Nodal Officer for the dedicated COVID units and ICU in GMCH sector 48, south campus; dedicated surgical COVID unit (Area 33), GMCH, Chandigarh; dedicated SARI ICU (A Block), GMCH, Chandigarh
4. Any outstanding achievement by the PG Students and SR :
i. Dr. S. Shilma and Dr. Arun, Postgraduate Student, Department of Anaesthesia & Intensive Care, GMCH-32, Chandigarh won First Prize in the Airway Quiz conducted in the 10th National Airway Conference conducted by AIDAA in Mangalore w.e.f. 6th to 8th September, 2019.
ii. Dr. Geetika, Senior Resident, won the 1st prize in poster session at 8th International Conference on Pain Management (ICPM-2019) held at Government Medical College & Hospital, Sector-32, Chandigarh from 12th to 15th October, 2019.
iii. Dr. Kompal Jain, Senior Resident, won the 2nd Prize in poster session at ICPM-2019 held at Government Medical College & Hospital, Sector-32, Chandigarh from 12th to 15th October, 2019 and also awarded third prize in TAS world Anaesthesia Day (WAD) quiz.
iv. PG Students won the First and Third Prize in the Quiz Competition at ICPM 2019 conducted at GMCH Chandigarh from 12th to 15th October, 2019.
v. Dr. Charmila, Junior Resident, was awarded the best poster award, at ISACON-NZ, held in Amritsar, 14-16th February 2020.
5. Special initiatives for prevention of COVID-19 among health care workers
• Planning and execution of protocols for adopting safe practices in handling COVID-19 patients.
• Identification and arrangement of donning and doffing areas and constant supervision for implementation of safe practice in different areas like South Campus of Sector 48 Hospital, SARI ICU, COVID area 33, COVID OT, non-COVD Emergency Operation Theatre, Emergency CLR OT, non-COVID ICU C-Block.
6. Publications on COVID-19: 02
a. Kumar S, Palta S, Saroa R, Mitra S. Anesthesiologist and COVID-19— current perspective. J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol 2020;36, Suppl S1:50-7
b. Jain K, Allen J, Kumar S, Mitra S. Protocolized approach to a covid-19 parturient undergoing a cesarean section - a case report. J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol 2020 (in press)
7. Project started on COVID both funded and non-funded: 05
a. Knowledge, attitude and mental state of healthcare workers during covid- 19 pandemic (Non-funded. PI: Prof. Sukanya Mitra)
b. Evaluation of the kinetics of antibody and lymphocyte responses in COVID-19 patients (PI: Prof. Jagdish Chander) (Co-Investigator: Prof. Sukanya Mitra)
c. Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of anesthesiologists in India. (Non funded. PI: Dr Kompal Jain)
d. Comparison of effectiveness and comfort of nasal cannulae versus venturi mask in the delivery of oxygen in moderately sick COVID-19 patients.
e. Assessment of residual, clinical and radiological sequel in the recovered patients of COVID-19 disease.
8. Any other achievements :
1. The Department organized the 8th International Conference on Pain Management (ICPM-2019) on 12-15 October 2019. This was attended by a large number of national faculty from all over India and international faculty from USA, Canada, UK, Australia, Singapore, UAE. A large number of delegates attended and appreciated profusely both by faculty and delegates.
2. The Department started anaesthesia services for Open-heart surgery and CTVS from March 2020.
3. The Department was selected and nominated as a designated centre by Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPC) for training and teaching palliative care. The Department held two palliative care courses during this period.
4. A number of Guest Faculty visited the Department for guest lecture or conducting training sessions or courses. These included:
a. Guest Faculty Dr. Jeremy R Johnson, Emeritus Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Hon Tutor, School of Medicine, Cardiff University and Chief Mentor, Karunashraya, Bangalore delivered lecture on Palliative Care on 13.11.2019.
b. Guest Faculty Dr. Prit Anand Singh, Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine at Changi General Hospital, Singapore delivered lecture on “Perioperative PoCUS series-Gastric Ultrasound for periop use to assess NPO Status” and conducted Hands on workshop on USG Gastic PoCUS on 26.02.2020.
c. Guest Faculty Dr. Ashish K. Khanna, Associate Professor, Department of Anaesthesiology, Section on Critical Care Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, North Carolina, USA, delivered lecture on “Vasodilatory shock in the critically ill – understanding evidence based management” on 2.3.2020.
d. The department of Anaesthesia & Intensive Care also held a zoom meeting with ICU Faculty Dr. Ashish K. Khanna, Associate Professor, Department of Anaesthesiology, Section on Critical Care Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, North Carolina, USA, on the topic “Management of COVID-19 Patients in Intensive care Unit” on 9th April, 2020.
e. The department of anaesthesia & Intensive care also organized a web meeting with renowned Psychiatry Faculty Prof. S.K. Chaturvedi, Professor, Department of Psychiatry at NIMHANS, Bangalore, on the topic “Death and Dying in Medical Practice” on 14th August 2020.
5. Department of Anaesthesia has been conducting special training and courses:
a. Advanced Cardiac Life Support (through American Heart Association & MAMC-ITC) on regular basis imparting CPR Training to students and faculty members of the different institute from the northern part of India. The last course was conducted in December 2019.
b. The department of Anaesthesia is also imparting Life Saving Anaesthesia Skills to medical officers from Haryana for management of obstetric patients with emergency conditions.
6. Department of Anaesthesia & Intensive Care, Government Medical College & Hospital, Sector-32, Chandigarh has been nominated as centre for practical examination by the National Board of Examinations, New Delhi and conducted the practical examination for the same from 22th October, 2019 to 24th October, 2019.
7. Funded Project (non-COVID):
a. MDRU project titled Assessment of inflammatory biomarkers among patients undergoing femoral fracture surgery (PI: Dr. Sukanya Mitra)
b. DST project titled Comparison of the efficacy of postoperative pain relief in ultrasound guided fascia iliaca block versus epidural block on Quality Of Recovery (QOR – 15) in patients undergoing femoral surgery (PI: Dr. Sukanya Mitra)
c. MDRU project titled To study the effect of dexmedetomidine on ischaemia reperfusion injury after tourniquet release In patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (PI: Dr. Vanita Ahuja)
8. Dr. Sanjeev Palta has collaborated with CSIO in the development of a ventilator for the management of COVID patients requiring mechanical ventilation.
9. A book titled “A Primer on Pain” written by Prof. Sukanya Mitra for introducing basic pain medicine for MBBS students was released at the 8th ICPM-2019 on 12th October 2019.