Dr Sonia Wartan

I am a consultant in Pain Medicine with over 20 years of experience.  I undertook my higher training at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Hospitals in London with additional 2 years conducting research and academic work in Pain Medicine. To meet my professional interests, I have visited various centres of excellence in Pain Medicine in Europe and the United States gaining further knowledge in treating patients with chronic pain in general and pelvic pain as further subspecialty.  In addition to my NHS work, I have been working in private practice since 1998 and at St. Joseph’s private hospital since 2001.

I use various modalities of treatment in managing chronic pain, including different specialist medications regimes, physical interventional techniques and injections which are utilized in the context of a multidisciplinary team including specialist nurses, physiotherapists and psychologists.   In private practice, I use this gold standard model for my patients.

As a consultant I have been the lead of Pain Medicine services at Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals in London between 1998-2001 and later of Aneurin Bevan University Health Board between 2011-2015 when I achieved the progression of the service to an international standard.   I have moved as a consultant to Wales in 2001 to join my husband and has been working at Royal Gwent Hospital since.  From 2004, I have dedicated my whole professional time to Pain Medicine becoming one of two full-time Pain Medicine consultants in this field in Wales.

Since my appointment as a consultant at Royal Gwent Hospital, I have developed many new services in Pain Medicine. I have established Chronic Pelvic Pain Management Multidisciplinary Clinic in 2004, this is the first and the only one in Wales.  I have developed this service to a comprehensive international level.  I have gained a wide experience in the field of Pelvic Pain visiting internationally renowned centres including the Pelvic and Urologic Multidisciplinary Pain Clinic in Nantes, France.  I regularly lecture as invited speaker in this field nationally.  I also present nationally and internationally in the field of Pain Medicine.

I am active in teaching and training the next generation of Anaesthetists and Pain Medicine doctors.  I have been the Local Pain Medicine Educational Supervisor of the Royal Gwent Hospital and the Module lead of the Pain Medicine Training of Aneurin Bevan University Health Board between 2004-2019.   I am a founder and lecturer of many Pain Medicine training aspects in the Welsh School of Anaesthesia.

I have been an active invited member of various Welsh Government health improvement professional working groups publishing documents on the Welsh Government website to improve health service provision for the people in Wales. 

Complex spinal pain,

Facet joint pain,

Sciatica and nerve pain,

Spinal stenosis pain,

Sacroiliac joint pain,

Pirifomis pain syndrome,

Neuropathic pain,

Diabetic polyneuropathy,

Complex regional pain syndrome,

Musculoskeletal complex pain,

Neck pain,

Thoracic pain,

Joint pain,

Pelvic pain,

Chronic Pelvic pain syndrome,

Endometriosis related pain.

I have published nationally and internationally.  I have fifteen peer-reviewed publications including a publication about Phantom Limb Pain in the prestigious British Journal of Anaesthesia.  I have won 2 national prizes for my research and work at Guy’s Hospital Pain Medicine Unit.  I have presented at Pain World Congresses in the field of Pelvic Pain and Pain Medicine.  I am writing in an edited Gynaecology book.

MBChB, FCARCSI

British Pain Society.

International Association for the Study of Pain.

International Pelvic Pain Society

Welsh pain society.

British Medical Association.

I am married and the mother of twin teenage girls.  In my little spare time, I enjoy playing badminton with my family as well as swimming.  I very much enjoy reading especially history and current affairs.  My husband and I are keen photographers.

I am a full-time consultant in Pain Medicine and Anaesthesia at Royal Gwent Hospital since 2001.

I have been very pleased that Patient satisfaction survey through 360 feedback conducted by independent bodies has shown 100% complete and excellent satisfaction with the service that I deliver to my patients. 

I also conduct on-going patient satisfaction survey for my specialist clinics which has always shown high levels of satisfaction.

1. S W Wartan, W Hamann, J.R.Wedley and I McColl

Phantom pain and sensation among British veteran amputees.

British Journal of Anaesthesia, 1997; 78: 652 - 659

2. Jankovski S, Wartan S,  Carli F

An investigation into the effect of adding Fentanyl to continuous extradural Bupivicaine on mechanics of labour and mode of delivery in primigravida.

Regional Anaesthesia. 17 (S35): 9,  1992. (Abstract)

3. S W Wartan, W Hamann, J.R.Wedley and I McColl

Phantom pain and sensation among British veteran amputees: results of a survey

Poster presentation, the poster was selected for best poster competition and won the second place

Annual scientific meeting of the British Pain Society, April 1995, Eastbourne

4. R Palavecino, S W Wartan, W Hamann, J R Wedley.

Effects of spinal cord stimulation on skin blood flow.

Annual scientific meeting of the British Pain Society, April 1995, Eastbourne

5.S W Wartan, W Hamann, J.R.Wedley and I McColl

Use of sodium channel blockers for the treatment of neuropathic pain: a controlled cross over double-blind study

8th World Congress on Pain, International Association for the study of Pain, Abstracts book

August 1996, Vancouver, Canada.

6. S W Wartan

Postherpetic neuralgia

Southern Society of Anaesthesia, St.Helier hospital, June 1999

Poster presentation

7.  S W Wartan, T M Ivanova-Stoilova

Lumbar facet joint injections: can we identify predictors of good response?

Annual scientific meeting of the British Pain Society, April 2004, Manchester

Poster presentation

8.  S W Wartan, N Saxina, T M Ivanova-Stoilova

The challenge of female chronic pelvic pain – The first Welsh pelvic pain clinic

International Association for the Study of Pain The 2010 World Congress on Pain, Montreal, Canada.

9. Mohammed Akram Ali, Sharmila Khot, Sonia Wartan  

A survey of opioid prescribing practice in primary care, The British Pain Society 2011 Joint Annual Scientific Meeting, Edinburgh. 

10. Sunil Dasari, Sonia Wartan 

Pelvic Pain Service Provision in Wales, The Welsh Pain Society Annual Scientific Meeting 2017, Newport.

“I would like to say a big thank you, you have made my life a lot easy”

“I wish to thank you for the injections you gave me in my back; they have worked really well”