Head of Department
Prof. Dr. Friedrich Mertzlufft
Bethel
Burgsteig 13
33617 Bielefeld
phone 0049 | (0)521 |772-79102
fax 0049 | (0)521 | 772-79104
E-mail Fritz.Mertzlufft@evkb.de

With around 50 clinicians and 70 specialist nurses at the Bethel location alone, our Clinic for Anaesthesiologicy is one of the largest specialist departments in the entire hospital. We have five specialist areas: classic anaesthetics for operations or examinations, intensive care medicine for very seriously ill and very seriously injured patients, emergency medicine, within the framework of the Bielefeld Emergency Rescue Services, pain therapy (also outpatient) and the inpatient hospice, as well as transfusion medicine with our own blood-bank and our blood donor facility. The clinic is internationally represented in research and teaching as well as presentations and publications, including several academic text books.

In 2004 we carried out around 16,000 anaesthetic procedures. We look after people with all kinds of illnesses and injuries, from premature babies with a body weight under 1,000g, to senior citizens. The visit by the anaesthetist prior to an operation provides a general assessment of the patient and, by way of a pre-OP discussion, a decision on the most suitable anaesthetic procedure. During the operation, the anaesthetist and specially-trained nursing staff ensure that you, the patient, feel no pain and that vital functions are maintained.

Due to its high concentration of specialist departments, the EvKB forms the regional neurological (head, spinal, nerve and muscle diseases or injuries) and trauma centre (patients with very serious and multiple injuries). This is why we also train clinicians as specialists in intensive care medicine. Following the completion of a building extension between 2003 and 2006, the Anaesthesiological Intensive Care Unit now has 20 beds. In Bethel an emergency vehicle, manned by our anaesthetists for use in the city of Bielefeld, is on stand-by around the clock. In our Pain Clinic Outpatient Department we have been treating patients with chronic and acute pain on a mainly interdisciplinary basis, since1984. We currently treat around 150 outpatients each quarter. In addition there are inpatients from other Bielefeld hospitals and from the inpatient hospice in Bethel. The blood bank and the Bethel blood donor service are also part of the clinic. We guarantee high standards of quality through our own blood-processing facility and rarely require external blood supplies. In addition to our own clinics, our blood bank supplies other hospitals. New blood donors are always welcome!

 

Our Clinic for Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine, Emergency Medicine and Pain Therapy at the Johannesstift is responsible for clinical anaesthetics in the operating theatre, the operative intensive care unit and for pain therapy before, during and after operations, particularly dealing with chronic pain patients. In the surgical field we often make use of pain pumps, which the patient can directly activate. After operations and accidents very seriously ill patients are treated in our modern, interdisciplinary intensive care unit.

The special feature of our clinic is the Pain Therapy Department. Patients with chronic pain receive comprehensive therapy from a competent team comprising clinicians, psychological behaviour therapists, nursing personnel, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, social workers and pastors. Our success is due to this team-work. Despite the fact that our patients have, on average, had 12 to 15 previous attempts at treatment elsewhere, we are still able to help them with our experience and efforts and, most importantly, with the patients active cooperation.

Our Pain Therapy Department, with its 20 beds, is one of the largest in Germany and attracts patients from all over the region. Our treatment concepts follow a multi-interdisciplinary approach. Therapies from a variety of specialties, including psychological behavioural therapy, are employed, especially by the psychotherapists working in the Pain Therapy Department, with their specialised training and experience in the area of pain psychotherapy. The aim of the treatment is the reduction of pain to a bearable level with a simultaneous increase in quality of life; the provision of a newly-won, active way of life is of great importance to us.

In addition to people with chronic pain syndromes, patients with particular ailments suffering acute pain are also treated. This includes pain from cancerous diseases, trigeminus neuralgia, or pain after shingles. The Clinic for Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine, Emergency Medicine and Pain Therapy at the Johannesstift is also involved in vocational training and further education nation-wide. In addition to a monthly Interdisciplinary Pain Conference, national workshops and regional further education courses on pain-related subjects are carried out several times each year.