Chronic Pain Relief: New Fund for Failed Pain Management

Life-threatening pain | For patients with critical illness, what destroys their will most often is not the disease itself, but the overwhelming and severe pain that never goes away. In Hong Kong, the incidence rate of cancer continues to rise. Even after receiving the most advanced treatments, many patients still face the pain of “waning to die”. Recently, the Hong Kong Pain Management (Critical Illness) Care Fund officially launched the “Restore Hope”: Critical Illness Pain Full Subsidy Program, initiated by the founder Dr. Chen Ningchen, who has personally experienced the pain of the disease, and collaborated with medical experts to provide a glimmer of hope for grassroots patients suffering from pain.

Written by: Medical Inspire｜Photo source: Hong Kong Pain Management (Critical Illness) Care Fund

Founder Dr. Chen Ningchen, who once suffered from adenomyosis: “The pain is enough to drive people crazy.”

This project was born out of a shared pain. Dr. Chen Ningzhen, founder and chairman of the fund, disclosed his pain-fighting experience for the first time at the press conference. She revealed that she had suffered from adenomyosis, and the pain was indescribable. Even if the dosage of painkillers was continuously increased, and even morphine injections were used, the body would gradually develop resistance to the drugs, and eventually all drugs would lose their effectiveness.

Dr. Chen recalled:

“I know firsthand how pain can drive you crazy.”

Because of this “skin-cutting pain”, she made up her mind during her hospitalization to do her best to alleviate the pain of other patients and break the shackles of being unable to obtain appropriate treatment due to financial difficulties.

The number of cancers has been rising year after year. Professor Xu Yiwen: Access to pain management is a “basic human right”

Pain management should not be a neglected by-product of modern medical care. Professor Rina Hui, clinical professor at the Cancer Medicine Center of the School of Clinical Medicine of the University of Hong Kong, pointed out that from 1994 to 2023, the number of cancer incidences in Hong Kong has continued to increase, with lung cancer, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer ranking the top three. In Hong Kong alone, about 38,000 people are diagnosed with cancer every year, and about 50% to 80% of these patients experience varying degrees of pain.

Professor Xu emphasized that although radiotherapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy and other methods can effectively control tumors, pain management is equally critical and should even be regarded as a patient’s “basic human right”. She pointed out that good pain control can improve patients’ nutrient absorption and sleep quality, allowing the body to have more energy to cope with subsequent challenges, and even help improve survival rates.

“Precision Pain Relief” Black Technology: Fully Implantable Analgesic Pump Can Reduce Drug Side Effects

Traditional oral analgesics often cause side effects such as constipation, vomiting, or confusion, and their effects may not accurately reach the pain point. In this regard, Dr. Chan Chi-wing (Timmy) from the Pain Section of the Department of Anesthesiology, University of Hong Kong Teaching Hospital, also introduced the latest “intrathecal drug infusion system” (commonly known as a fully implantable analgesic pump).

This technology is like installing an “autonomous navigation” pain pump in the body, injecting a tiny dose of morphine directly into the target location through surgery. Dr. Chen described this as being as precise as a “guided missile”. Since the drug acts directly on the spinal nerves, the dose of morphine required is extremely low, which can significantly reduce systemic side effects and achieve a more lasting and efficient analgesic effect. Professor Wong Sau-ching from the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong also quoted research as saying that after receiving the implant, patients can reduce their pain by an average of 4.34 points (on a 10-point scale) within 4 to 5 weeks, which is a remarkable effect.

“It hurt so much that I had to cover it with a pillow.” Patient Mr. Feng: regained his life after surgery

The personal sharing of Mr. Feng, a skin cancer patient, best reflects the trampling of dignity by pain. He once described himself as being in so much pain that he “couldn’t eat or sleep” and even had to “cover the pain with a pillow” to vent his emotions. At that time, traditional painkillers were completely ineffective for him.
Fortunately, Mr. Feng’s life took a turn for the better after Dr. Chen Zhirong performed a fully implantable analgesic pump surgery. He said that the pain disappeared after the operation: “In the beginning, I took medicine every month, but now I only take medicine once every three to four months.” This treatment not only stopped the pain, but also allowed him to enjoy family happiness with his family again and regain his dignity as a human being.

“Restore Hope” fully funded plan: helping grassroots patients break financial shackles

In order to benefit more people, the Hong Kong Pain Management (Critical Illness) Care Foundation donated fully implantable analgesic pumps and spinal cord neurostimulators to the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong through this project, providing full subsidies to patients with financial difficulties and performing surgeries at teaching hospitals.

Funding objects and vision:
Target audience: Patients with cancer pain, spinal neuralgia and sciatica.
The goal: Give patients relief from severe pain and dependence on opioids within days.
Vision: To achieve “the patient has a wish and the pain has help”, the first phase goal is to help 100 patients regain their quality of life.

Dr. Chen Ningzhen said at the launch ceremony:

“We should break the shackles of economic hardship and make the pain stop.”

The advancement of medical technology should not only be reserved for the wealthy. This project is filling the gap in society so that grassroots patients no longer have to fight alone in the dark.

💡What is “Intrathecal Drug Infusion System”?

This is a minimally invasive implantable medical device. Doctors will implant a drug pump under the skin of the abdomen and connect it to the spinal cord cavity (the intrathecal space) through a small catheter. Because the drug is delivered directly to the nerve center, its analgesic efficacy is many times higher than that of oral morphine. At the same time, because the drug does not circulate through the systemic blood circulation, it can greatly reduce the side effects caused by traditional analgesics.

Exclusive interview with Dr. Chen Ningchen, Founder and Chairman of the Fund

“Not a lump, a hanging water” recalls the pain of cutting the uterine adenomyosis

Dr. Chen’s disease-fighting story begins with adenomyosis. This is no ordinary uterine fibroid. She described the two as vastly different: the fibroids have clear borders and can be easily removed; however, adenomyosis penetrates into the myometrium like a “puddle of water” and cannot be treated by simple incision. Traditionally, the entire uterus has to be removed.

When his condition was at its most severe, Dr. Chen tried various painkillers and even morphine injections, but his body gradually developed drug resistance and eventually all drugs lost their effectiveness. She sighed:

“I know firsthand how pain can drive you crazy.”

That kind of pain not only occurs in the middle of the night, but also occurs suddenly while working in the company, frightening the colleagues around him.

Fortunately, I met a “quick, ruthless and accurate” famous doctor who unveiled the black technology of non-invasive surgery to “dissolve tumors”

Dr. Chan stressed that the illness was crucial to encounter a “folded” doctor to get out of trauma. She is special thanks to his 20s to follow up with his condition family doctor Yang Yi Min, praised his judgment “fast and harsh”, promptly referred to the specialist. Ultimately, she chose the latest non-invasive heat-focused surgery (coupled Knife HIFU). Using a high-temperature heat focusing on the technology of dissolved tumors, the stomach requires immersion in water during surgery, using the heat to slowly dissolve the tumor and shrink. At that time, the tumor was up to 13 cm and was successfully reduced to 3 cm after surgery, allowing her to avoid resection of the fate of the uterus.

“Those who are sick have a wish, and those who are in pain have help.” Established a fund to help grassroots break the economic shackles

Because he had been in the abyss of pain, Dr. Chen made up his mind during his hospitalization:

“Do whatever you can to alleviate the pain of other patients.”

She is well aware that disadvantaged groups may not be as lucky as she is to encounter good doctors in time, and may even miss out on good treatment opportunities due to insufficient financial support.
In the full funding program of “regaining hope”, the full grant program should be shipped. Dr. Chan said the foundation has partnered with the University of Hong Kong (Mary Hospital), with the first phase of the goal of funding 100 patients in three years to undergo “full-implanted analgesic pump” surgery. She stressed that it was not only possible to apply for patients with only end-stage, as long as the doctor assessed the ineffectiveness of taking medication, that the second and third phases of the cancer or neuralgia, the fund are willing to reach out, so that the disease “don’t worry about money, good to raise the disease.”

Breaking the taboo of death: What people fear most is not death, but “painful death”

Dr. Chan has profound insights into pain management: Asians or Hong Kong people are generally afraid of talking about death, but death is a necessary stage of life. She believes that if pain can be effectively relieved, death will no longer be so hideous. She quoted the words of her patient Mr. Feng: “Why don’t you give me some medicine and I’ll send you home to the West.” She felt the same with this sentence, because when the pain reaches the critical point, human dignity will be wiped out. Therefore, in addition to donating money, the foundation also hopes to let the public know that pain can be treated through education, thereby reducing the fear of death.

Future Vision: Work with top teaching hospitals to expand the scope of benefits

The foundation is currently working closely with the team from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong. Dr. Chan praised the team for being extremely efficient and implementing the plan in only three or four months, without any “bureaucratic” style. Looking forward to the future, she plans to expand the cooperation to include CUHK Hospital, so that both top teaching hospitals can become strong backing for patients.

“We should break the shackles of economic hardship and make the pain stop.”

This is Dr. Chen’s belief and the ultimate goal of this “long march against pain”.

💡What is adenomyosis?

Adenomyosis is different from uterine fibroids. In adenomyosis, the endometrial tissue is “dislocated” and invades and spreads in the myometrium. Because the lesions are diffuse and borderless like “a puddle of water” as Dr. Chen described them, it is difficult to completely remove them with traditional surgery, often leading to severe menstrual pain and heavy menstrual bleeding. The HIFU (high-intensity focused ultrasound) that Dr. Chen underwent provides a non-invasive option, using the heat generated by ultrasound to accurately “burn” the diseased tissue from outside the body and preserve the uterus.