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AIIMS Patna begins OPD services for post-Covid-19 care
Besides catering to patients with complications arising out of Covid-19, the OPD will facilitate research
Patna’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Friday started outdoor patient department (OPD) services for post-Covid-19 care. Only two patients registered on the opening day, officials said.
The Nalanda Medical College Hospital (NMCH), which is the other Covid-19 designated hospital in Patna, initiated the post-Covid care OPD services last week.
The AIIMS had suspended OPD services and stopped admitting non-Covid patients when it was designated a Covid-19 special hospital on July 10.
“The OPD service will be available in the department of pulmonary medicine from 9 am to 2 pm on weekdays, with registration till 12 noon. We will not admit patients other than those with Covid-19 at this stage,” said Dr CM Singh, superintendent, AIIMS Patna.
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Besides catering to patients with complications arising out of Covid-19, the OPD will facilitate research.
“We will conduct CT scan or CT-angiography in the fourth and 24th week of post-Covid care follow-up to check for pulmonary fibrosis, or scarring of the lungs, that affect their functioning,” said Dr Deependra Kumar Rai, head of the department of pulmonary medicine, AIIMS Patna.
“Studies have revealed that 20%-30% of patients develop pneumonia after recovering from Covid-19. There are others who suffer from cough, breathlessness...severe weakness, sleep disturbance, gastro-intestinal issues, abdominal or chest pain after recovering from Covid-19. We have developed a standard operating procedure on the treatment protocol of such patients.”
He said doctors at the pulmonary medicine OPD would consult clinicians of other specialities like cardiology, neurology, gastro-intestinal medicine, etc on a case-to-case basis, for patients suffering from co-morbidities.
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