The Department of Rheumatology in KIMS is one of the best in the country. It is headed by the Doyen of Rheumatology education in India, Professor Ramnath Misra (former Dean of SGPGI Lucknow) and has stalwarts such as Dr Prasanta Padhan and Dr Sakir Ahmed, well-known names in the field of Rheumatology. Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology deals with all kinds of arthritis, pain syndromes and autoimmune diseases. Pain syndromes may be limited to one hand, shoulder, foot or involve the whole body. A systemic autoimmune disease is one in which one’s own immune system attacks the own body. They may present with unexplained or prolonged fever, fever with skin rash, arthritis and may involve various different organs of the body (kidney, lung, liver, brain, heart) at the same time or consecutively.

The Department has state-of-the-art facilities including musculoskeletal ultrasound, various autoantibody testing and interpretation, and unparalleled experience in the use of immunosuppressant’s and biological drugs. Most of all, all faculty members believe in treating the patient as a whole instead of just treating symptoms. The department is complemented by an able orthopaedics department when any joint surgery is required. The physiotherapy and occupational therapy departments make the care of the patients complete.

Services Provided :

• A. Outpatients department: services for outpatients available 6 days a week (Monday to Saturday) from 9 am to 5 pm


• B. Inpatient care: around the clock for patients in Multi-speciality ward and Special Cabins


• C. Special Clinics :
  • Connective tissue disease clinic
  • Paediatric rheumatology
  • Rare disease clinic


• D. Pain clinic with dedicated pain consultant


• E. Interventions :
• Intra-articular (joint) injections
• Nerve blocks and hydro-dissection
• Intra-lesional injections: trigger fingers, adhesive capsulitis, tennis elbow, etc


• F. Diagnostic procedures :
• Skin biopsy
• Muscle biopsy
• Minor salivary gland biopsies
• Kidney biopsy


• G. Musculoskeletal Ultrasound :
• OPD diagnostic ultrasound screening
• Ultrasound guided injections
• Ultrasound guided diagnostic aspiration


• H. Various antibody related diagnostics :
• Rheumatoid factor and Anti-CCP
• Anti-nuclear antibodies
• Extractable nuclear antigens ('ANA panel')
• ANCA antibodies

Equipment Available :

• Nail fold capillaroscopy
• High frequency ultrasound with linear probe
• Various research projects related

Cutting Edge Technology/Research Done/Area of Research :

• IRA sponsored cohort study on rheumatic diseases
• Sero-survey of COVID-19 in rheumatic diseases (ICMR tie-up)
• Outcomes of MCTD
• Outcomes of reactive arthritis
• Gut microbiota of reactive arthritis (APLAR grant)
• Predictors of flares of CTD-ILD

Faculty list :

Sl.No	Photo	Name of The Doctor	Designation	Qualifications
1.		Dr. Ramnath Mishra	Professor & Head of Department (HOD), Rheumatology	MBBS, FRCP
2.		Dr. Prasanta Padhan	Professor, Rheumatology	MBBS,MD(Medicine)
3.		Dr. Sakir Ahmed	Associate Professor, Rheumatology	MBBS, MD, DM (Rheumatology)
4.		Dr. Debashis Maikap	Senior Resident, Rheumatology	MBBS, MD(Medicine), PDF(Rheumatology)

Common Rheumatic Diseases :

• Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) : mainly pain and swelling in the small joints of hands but can be systemic (problem inside the body with the organs eg lungs, kidneys, eyes, heart)


• Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) : Lupus is the wolf. This can cause problems with many organs including kidneys, skin, nerves and the heart


• Scleroderma ( Systemic sclerosis) : Here the collagen is too thick making problems with the skin, lungs and heart etc


• Polymyositis / Dermatomyositis : Problem with the muscles leading to weakness – myositis, and skin rash– dermato.


• Sjogren’s syndrome : here the patients get dry eyes and a dry mouth and other problems.


• Spondyloarthritis : Spondyloarthritis is arthritis of the spine (back bone).The most common of the diseases include:Ankylosing spondylitis (AS)


• Psoriatic arthritis : one third of patients with psoriasis can different types of joint problems.


• Reactive Arthritis : This is arthritis that an infection will cause. So some weeks after a urinary or diarrhea/dysentery the person will get joint pains. Reiter’s syndrome is one example.


• Gout : The patient often suddenly get a red, swollen big toe that is very painful due to high uric acid levels. Treatment can help it get better quickly and different treatment can stop the gout from coming back.


• Vasculitis Diseases : There are many diseases that cause the walls of the blood vessels to be inflamed. White cells move into the wall and can damage the blood vessel. This can block the vessel and/or it can cause pain.


• Osteoarthritis : Osteoarthritis (OA) is found in older people and is due to “wear and tear” of joints. Joints get damaged as people get older and this causes pain. Medical treatment does not work very well in these diseases – it will not cure them but can help to releive the pain. However a multidisciplinary approach with orthopedics team, physiotherapy and occupational therapy can help them.


• Osteoporosis : Osteoporosis is another common silent disease that we diagnose and treat. Osteoporosis is thin bones and makes it easier to break bones. Treating this will help improve the quality of life of the patients and also help prevent fractures of the bones.


• Juvenile arthritis : various types of arthritis of children