Department of Anaesthesia

The Department of Anaesthesia at Aga Khan University (AKU) is an independent service which aims to provide a high standard of anaesthesia care. At present, there are 27 full-time and five part-time faculty members on board. In addition, there are four fellows, 31 residents, nine medical officers and 33 technicians.

Services

The Department of Anaesthesia provides clinical services to all the sub-specialties of surgery, including General Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Urology, Neurosurgery, Paediatric Surgery, ENT, Ophthalmology, Plastic, Maxillofacial, Vascular Cardiac, Orthopaedic Surgery and Emergency on a 24-hour basis. The Department also provides services to General Intensive Care Unit, Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit, Surgical Day Care, Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT’s) and Radiology Department. Other services include Obstetric Epidural, Acute/Chronic Pain Management and Sedation services. The Department also holds a walk-in Pre-operative Anaesthesia Assessment Clinic five days a week. Pain Clinics are held four times a week.

Research Activities/Programmes

The Department is actively involved in clinical research. Faculty has conducted a number of clinical trials, which have been published in indexed national and international Anaesthesia journals. During 2004-2006, there were 24 publications in international journals and 44 in national journals. Forty-three international and 153 national abstracts were also published. Research interests of the department are perioperative and post-operative pain relief, cardiovascular responses in anaesthesia, safety and quality in anaesthesia and blood transfusion. Infection control and sepsis are the themes of interest in the critical care area.

The Department encourages its faculty to enhance their skills and knowledge and supports them to attend different medical symposia, seminars and workshops as part of their continuing medical education.

Educational Programmes/Undergraduate and Postgraduate Training

The Department offers a five-year residency-training programme, which is recognised by the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP). As of 2006, 52 residents have qualified from the programme and are working at different hospitals within and outside Pakistan. The programme has gained a reputation for being an excellent training programme in Anaesthesiology in the country. A number of faculty are supervisors and examiners for CPSP.

The Department runs a comprehensive teaching and training programme (rotation based) for anaesthesia technicians and undergraduate medical students.

Department of Anaesthesia Aga Khan University

Mailing Address:

Department of Anaesthesia Private Wing, Second Floor
Aga Khan University Hospital
Stadium Road, P. O. Box 3500 Karachi 74800 Pakistan
Telephone: +92 21 486 4639 or 493 0051 Ext. 4639
Fax: +92 21 493 4294, 493 2095