At-a-Glance
Dr Diana Chan is a pain specialist whose personal experience with chronic injury allows her to offer deeply empathetic, patient-centric care. She has extensive expertise in performing over 500 advanced, minimally invasive interventional procedures. Dr Chan integrates modern clinical interventions with traditional techniques like acupuncture to restore quality of life.
✔ Areas of Expertise: Advanced musculoskeletal pain interventions and interventional procedures
✔ Clinic: Advanced Pain Specialists (Google Map)
✔ Language: Bahasa, Cantonese, English, Hokkien, Mandarin, Teochew
✔ Insurance Panels: AIA, Alliance, Allianz, BUPA, Cigna, Great Eastern, Income, iXchange, Parkway Shenton, Prudential, Singlife
✔ Practicing At: Gleneagles Hospital, Mount Alvernia Hospital, Mount Elizabeth Hospital (Orchard)
Know Before You Go: Recognised by patients for her empathetic, listener-first approach to relieving pain.
the vision
Restoring Quality of Life Through Personalised Pain Care
“The best satisfaction is when a patient previously in pain comes into your consult room smiling and tells you they feel so much better”
– Dr Diana Chan
Get To Know Dr Diana Chan
Dr Diana Chan is a distinguished Specialist in Pain Management and Anaesthesiology, formerly serving as the Head of the Department of Pain Medicine at Singapore General Hospital from 2020 to 2024. As the Founder and past Head of the SingHealth Duke-NUS Pain Centre, she has been instrumental in shaping the landscape of multidisciplinary pain care in Singapore. Her leadership extends to her roles as the Honorary Secretary for the Chapter of Pain Medicine Physicians at the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, and as a past Council Member of the College of Anaesthesiologists. Renowned for her commitment to patient-centric care, she has received the SingHealth Service with a Heart Award and continues to advocate for advanced pain medicine through her extensive research, including over 30 peer-reviewed publications, and her frequent media appearances on platforms like Channel 8 and The Straits Times.
Clinical Expertise
Dr Diana Chan specialises in minimally invasive interventional pain management, bringing over a decade of experience to her practice. She has performed more than 500 basic and advanced procedures, including epidural steroid injections for back pain and sciatica, radiofrequency ablations of the joints and spine, and disc ablation procedures. Her expertise extends to regenerative medicine, such as platelet-rich plasma injections and prolotherapy, as well as specialised treatments for complex neuropathic pain conditions like trigeminal neuralgia and postherpetic neuralgia. Additionally, she provides advanced cancer pain interventions, including the use of intrathecal catheters and sympathetic blocks, and utilises Botox injections for the management of migraines and chronic pelvic pain.
What Is Her Ethos In Medicine?
Dr Diana Chan’s ethos is centred on the belief that no one should have to endure chronic pain in silence. She strives to provide personalised, multidisciplinary care that goes beyond just treating symptoms; She aims to restore her patients’ quality of life and functional independence so they can return to the activities they love.
Academic Qualifications
- MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) – Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore
- Master of Medicine (Anaesthesiology) – National University of Singapore
- Masters of Clinical Investigation (MCI) – National University of Singapore / NMRC
- Fellow of Academy of Medicine Singapore (FAMS) – College of Anaesthesiology & Pain Medicine
- Fellow in Interventional Pain Practice (FIPP) – World Institute of Pain, USA
- European Diploma of Regional Anaesthesia (EDRA) – European Society of Regional Anaesthesia & Pain Therapy
- European Diploma of Pain Medicine (EFIC) – European Pain Federation
- Graduate Diploma of Acupuncture (GDA) – Ministry of Health / TCM
- HMDP Fellowship – Chronic Pain, Regional Anaesthesia, Women’s & Paediatric Pain, Cancer Pain (Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth, Australia)
- EFIC Certificate in Pain Medicine Knowledge
Publications
- Development of the Combined Assessment of Risk Encountered in Surgery (CARES) surgical risk calculator for prediction of postsurgical mortality and need for intensive care unit admission risk: a single-center retrospective study
- Intrathecal Catheter Insertion and Analgesia is a Safe and Effective Method of Pain Control in Patients with Advanced and Intractable Cancer Pain
- Infant lumbar and thoracic epidurals for abdominal surgeries: cases in a paediatric tertiary institution
- An unusual route taken by a central venous catheter resulting in inadvertent subclavian artery cannulation
- An unusual cause of intraoperative airway obstruction in a child with Wiskott‐Aldrich syndrome
10 Questions & Answers
A pain management specialist treats and coordinates the treatment of many pain conditions. Pain is a universal symptom and often transcends many specialties. The unique thing about a pain specialist is that most of us see all kinds of acute and chronic pain condition, provides conservative to minimal invasive pain interventions, and most importantly, coordinates the biopsychosocial and holistic care of a pain patient.
Patients can consider consulting a pain management specialist when the pain severity progresses beyond that of just using simple analgesics, or when pain persists for > 3 months beyond that of tissue healing, or when pain affects ADL/ quality of life.
My seniors who do pain, and I see them making a difference to patients who have been suffering in pain for a long time. Also because I have pain issues myself – shoulder pain and migraines, and I know I can be empathetic to my patients who are suffering in pain.
Constantly update myself with new interventional techniques, and constantly looking for gaps in pain medicine and doing research. Journal articles, and speaking to different specialties related to pain medicine.
Patient dedication – 150%. To heal sometimes, to comfort always.
Always listen to patient’s expectations.
Pain therapy is always a patient-centred approach.
Cancer pain
- Managed a 30 year-old patient with end stage renal cell carcinoma. She was drowsy with so high dose opioids and ketamine due to immense pain and could not communicate with her family. We put in an intrathecal pump for her and overnight her opioid doses reduced significantly. She was able to spend her last days at home alert, and comfortable and without pain.
- I was called to see a 21 year-old patient with metastatic Ewing’s sarcoma, with aggressive tumour everywhere. He was in so much pain that he could not move. We put in an intrathecal pump for him and he was able to play games on his computer the next day. The pump helped to control his pain for the last 3 months of his life, and I saw his courage and resilience in this whole cancer journey.
- Trigeminal neuralgia patient – 93 year-old female with intractable trigeminal neuralgia. She was on lyrica and carbamazepine but she complained they were causing her brain fog and since she was the matriarch of her family she wanted to be still alert to manage her finances. We offered her a gasserian ganglion radiofrequency ablation and she had no pain immediate after (she was not able to eat due to pain before the procedure). It was minimally invasive and suitable for our superaged society.
Myth: Pain management is temporary and pain will always come back.
Truth: It can be therapeutic and curative.
Myth: Pain is part of aging and I just need to endure it.
Truth: No it is not part of ageing. You can age gracefully without pain.
Myth: If I have back pain I always need to see a spine surgeon.
Truth: Not all the time. You can opt for injections or conservative management.
Myth: Pain management is just taking painkillers.
Truth: There are lots of modalities in managing pain.
Myth: Steroid injection is harmful.
Truth: It is less harmful than taking long term steroids/ long term neuropathic pain medications and used by the correct specialty.
I take the time to explain to patients, drawing diagrams to help them understand the different treatments, brochures, and real life examples. Always lay out different alternatives – explain the efficacy of treatment, risks and cons.
I travel, I do facial, I go for massage, I run and gym. And I journal.
Exciting developments in pain management include disc ablation technologies, AI, non-invasive energy therapies, new non-opioid medications.
All content on this site is informative only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and should never be relied upon for specific medical advice. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, call 995 immediately or go to the nearest Accident & Emergency department.
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