Department of General Medicine
General Info
The Department of Medicine is the backbone of the hospital and caters to all medical subspecialities.
It is a comprehensive healthcare unit with a total of 142 beds which includes a 17-bed Intensive Care Unit and High Dependency Unit.
Wards include Male Medical Ward, Female Medical Ward, Male and Female Nephrology ward and Chest Ward.
The department provides critical care services and OP and IP management of a diverse range of subspecialities encompassing Nephrology, Medical Gastorenterology, Pulmonology, Neurologu, Rheumatology and Medical Onchology.
Additionally, the department plays a pivotal role in managing cardiac emergencies in the initial stages with continuous onitoring by Cardiologists.
Dr. Radha Vijayaraghavan DNB(General Medicine), MNAMS, D. M. Nephrology
ACHD
Dr. K. Muruganandam MD(GM).,DNB(GM).,Fellow in Clinical Cardiology.,
ACHD
Dr. G. B. Vidyashankari MBBS,DNB (General Medicine)
ACHD
Dr. K. Jayasudha MBBS, DGO, MD General Medicine
Sr.DMO
Dr. G. Arun Kumar MBBS, M.D General Medicine
Sr.DMO
Academic
Department of Medicine is training DNB (General Medicine) postgraduates from late 1980s. With four decades of experience, the department has excelled in teaching PGs.
Annually, the department admits 4 primary DNB candidates and 1 sponsored DNB candidate from Government Institutions.
The department conducts regular academic activities, including formative assessment tests, and encourages research presentations in various journals and conferences by postgraduate students and faculty members.
Furthermore, the Department of General Medicine is recognized as a center for conducting final DNB practical exams for candidates from different institutes, underlining its academic excellence.
Services
Procedures
The Department of General Medicine also specializes in performing a variety of complex medical procedures. These procedures are conducted with precision and include vascular access in critically ill patients and those requiring renal replacement therapy under ultrasound guidance, diagnostic and therapeutic bronchoscopy like tracheal stenting, pleurodesis, ICD (Intercostal drain) insertion, USG (Ultrasound) guided transbronchial and transthoracic lung biopsies, diagnostic and therapeutic upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy, ERCP (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography), bone marrow biopsy, renal biopsy, liver biopsy, liver abscess aspiration, spirometry, Body box plethysmography, bedside EEG (Electroencephalogram) and nerve conduction studies, and bedside diagnostic and interventional ultrasonography.
Notably, the department has introduced ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) services, marking a groundbreaking development in the history of Indian Railways. ECMO is an advanced therapy reserved for severe respiratory or cardiac failure cases where conventional treatments are insufficient
The Department of Nephrology(subspeciality of medicine) offers specialized treatment modalities like Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy (CRRT), Sustained Low Efficiency Dialysis (SLED), and life-saving advanced procedures for treating poisoning cases.
These include hemofiltration for specific poisonings like Carbamazepine, plasma exchange therapy for autoimmune and acute liver injuries, intravascular lipid emulsion therapy for herbicide poisonings, Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD), Automated Peritoneal Dialysis for home-based care (APD), permanent catheter insertion, arteriovenous fistula creation, angioplasty for venous thrombosis/occlusion, and pre- and post-renal transplant care, which are conducted in a dedicated Nephrology unit.
Maintenance Haemodialysis for CKD V patients is routinely done. Patients and donor are worked up for transplant and sent to empanelled hospital and post transplant care is provided by us. Several high risk transplants like second transplant and transplant for highly sensitized recipient have been performed successfully. Recently, paediatric CRRT and Oxiris Haemadsorption for sepsis has been started.
Procedure statistics
| Procedure during last 1 year at ICU |
Total |
| Central line |
176 |
| ICD insertion |
33 |
| Bronchoscopy |
150 |
| Lumbar Puncture |
15 |
| LUNG BIOPSY |
8 |
| LIVER BIOPSY |
8 |
| BMA |
19 |
| MECHANICAL VENTILATION |
779 |
Dept. of Nephrology – Procedures for 2023-24
| Sl.NO |
Name of procedure |
Number of sessions |
| 1 |
Haemodialysis |
5388 |
| 2 |
SLED (Sustained Low Efficiency Dialysis) in ICU |
361 |
| 3 |
CRRT |
11 |
| 4 |
Plasmapheresis |
14 |
| 5 |
Total OPD cases attended |
11,200 |
| 6 |
Total venoplasty |
30 |
| 7 |
HD catheter insertions |
643 |
| 8 |
Renal transplant |
3 |
| 9 |
AV fistula creations |
47 |
| 10 |
Permcath insertions |
23 |
| 11 |
Renal biopsy |
21 |
Research
The following publications are from Department of Nephrology:
1. Abraham, G. et al. (2017) ‘Microbiology, clinical spectrum and outcome of peritonitis in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis in India: Results from a multicentric, observational study’, Indian Journal of Medical Microbiology, 35(4), pp. 491–498. doi:10.4103/ijmm.ijmm_17_392.
2. Narayanan, G.S., Vijayaraghavan, R. and Menon, T. (2014) ‘Identification of corynebacterium jeikeium from a CAPD patient by 16S rdna PCR – A case report’, BMC Infectious Diseases, 14(S3). doi:10.1186/1471-2334-14-s3-p34.
3. Darji, P. et al. (2008) ‘Conversion from mycophenolate mofetil to enteric-coated mycophenolate sodium in renal transplant recipients with gastrointestinal tract disorders’, Transplantation Proceedings, 40(7), pp. 2262–2267. doi:10.1016/j.transproceed.2008.07.041.
Notice Board
ECMO Therapy at Medical ICU (1st time in Indian Railways)
