Perioperative, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine

We are responsible for the anesthesia at hospitals in the Helsinki metropolitan area and for the perioperative activities of nearly all the different surgical units. Anesthesia activities also include general anesthesia and pain relief provided outside the operating rooms, such as the treatment of labor pain.

We are responsible for the activities of the intensive care and intermediate care units in the Helsinki University Hospital Area and for the development of these activities. Intensive care includes the maintenance of vital functions of a critically ill patient and the treatment of the patient in the intensive care or intermediate care unit. The activities can take place in cooperation with experts in several specialties, such as specialists in internal medicine, surgeons, and neurologists. The Perioperative, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine department manages a total of four intensive care or intermediate care units in the Helsinki University Hospital Area.

At the core of the Pain Medicine division is the Pain Clinic, where we provide pain management services in the largest hospitals and pain outpatient clinics in the Helsinki University Hospital Area. In addition to anesthesiologists, there is also a neurologist, psychiatrist, and psychologist working in the clinic. Management of pain includes the treatment of both acute and chronic pain. Acute pain management is needed, for example, after surgery. Chronic pain includes, for example, cancer pain and neurogenic pain.

We provide equipment cleaning, disinfection and sterilization services and act as an expert in the work for preventing the spread of infections.

The division for Research, Training and Expert Services (TutKA) is responsible for supporting the department's activities. Through the division, we coordinate the department's research activities, training, equipment purchases, and cooperation with the department and external parties, such as the university, primary health care, pharmaceutical companies, and equipment manufacturers. We also coordinate the activities of the Academic Simulation Center.