Department Of Pulmonary Medicine 

Introduction

The Super specialty department of Pulmonary Medicine has been functional at AIIMS Rajkot since December 2021. The department is committed to excel in all three areas- patient care, education and research. The ultimate aim is to develop a department which will achieve high standards of patient care, research and foster competitiveness, academic freedom, critical thinking, innovation and creativity.

 

Vision

To establish a state-of-the-art facility providing highest quality services in the areas of general pulmonology, interventional pulmonology, critical care and sleep medicine

 

Mission

• To provide latest, high-quality tertiary care patient services in field of Pulmonary, Critical care and Sleep Medicine
• To achieve excellence in teaching and training of undergraduates, postgraduates and to develop educational facilities of the highest order for the training of DM fellows of Pulmonary medicine
• To conduct “world-class” research and pursue advances in technology to achieve superiority in the field
• To start specialty clinics – OAD clinic, ILD clinic, Sleep clinic, PH clinic, pleura clinic, lung cancer clinic, and domiciliary NIV clinic
• To establish an advanced Pulmonary function testing laboratory with services of Spirometry, Body plethysmography, DLCO, Impulse oscillometry, FeNO, bronchial challenge test, respiratory muscle strength assessment, cardiopulmonary exercise test, field walking test and arterial blood gas analysis.
• To establish a sophisticated Sleep laboratory for diagnosis and treatment of various sleep related disorders e.g., OSA, CSA, Sleep related movement disorders, Narcolepsy, Parasomnias, Circadian rhythm disorders, Insomnias etc. The Sleep laboratory will offer services of diagnostic polysomnography, multiple sleep latency test, manual scoring and manual titration with CPAP, Bilevel PAP, AVAPS, ASV.
• To establish a state-of-the-art Advanced Interventional Pulmonology suite with bronchoscopy and thoracoscopy services. The diagnostic bronchoscopy services will include flexible bronchoscopy and guided procedures like bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL, endobronchial biopsy (EBB), transbronchial lung biopsy (cTBLB), transbronchial needle aspiration (cTBNA), endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) – linear and radial and guided procedures like EBUS TBNA and radial EBUS guided TBLB. The therapeutic bronchoscopy services will include rigid bronchoscopy, electrosurgery, APC, cryobiopsy, dilatation of airway stenosis, debulking and coring of tumors, bronchoscopic lung volume reduction surgeries (BLVRS), SEMS and Silicone stent placement.
• To establish a high-end intensive care unit with mechanical ventilators, advanced hemodynamic monitoring systems, ECMO unit and positive pressure ICU for lung and other organ transplant and immunocompromised patients.

 

Milestones

Initiation of Pulmonary Medicine OPD services from 31/12/2021.

Initiation of Spirometry services from Jan 2022.

Initiation from Cardio Pulmonary Exercise test from Nov 2022

Initiation of Video Bronchoscopy services from Dec 2022

Initiation of Body plethysmography, Forced Oscillometry, Respiratory muscle strength assessment from March 2023.

DM Pulmonary Medicine course from Jan 2024 session

 

Facilities available

OPD services

Pulmonary function laboratory with

1. Spirometry (Pneumotachograph based, Turbine based and Ultrasonic),
2. Body plethysmography,
3. Bronchial Provocation test,
4. Diffusion capacity of Lung for Carbon Monoxide (DLCO)
5. Forced oscillometry
6. Respiratory muscle strength assessment using MIP, MEP, SNIP
7. Cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET)
8. Six-minute walk test

 

Bronchoscopy suite with

1. Video bronchoscopy with TBLB, cTBNA, EBB
2. Electrosurgery
3. Argon Plasma Coagulation
4. Cryotherapy
5. Linear and Radial Endobronchial Ultrasound will be installed soon

 

Future Expansion

The department plans to establish

1. Specialty clinics – OAD clinic, ILD clinic, Sleep clinic, PH clinic, pleura clinic, lung cancer clinic, and domiciliary NIV clinic
2. Sleep laboratory
3. Advanced Interventional Pulmonology suite with linear and radial probe EBUS, rigid bronchoscopy.
4. Intensive care unit with ECMO facility

 

Medical Education

The department has started DM Pulmonary Medicine course from Jan 2024 session.

 

Research

The department is involved in various intramural/extramural/multi-centric projects in collaboration with other Institutes.