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Dr Paul Tan

Dr Tan Hon Sen Paul

BSc (Hons), MD, MMed (Anaes), MHSc

Consultant

KK Women's and Children's Hospital

Specialty: Women's Anaesthesia

Conditions Treated by this Doctor:
Labour Pain, Obstetric and Gynecologic Surgery, Postoperative Pain.

Clinical Appointments

  • Consultant Women's Anaesthesia KK Women's and Children's HospitalKK Women's and Children's Hospital

Profile

Dr Paul Tan Hon Sen is a Consultant at the Department of Women’s Anaesthesia, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH), and Clinical Assistant Professor at Duke-NUS Medical School. He specialises in providing pain relief for labour and surgery, as well as anaesthesia for caesarean delivery and gynaecological surgeries.

After receiving his medical degree from Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, he completed his specialist training in SingHealth Anaesthesiology and Perioperative Sciences, followed by a fellowship at Duke University Medical Center, USA.

He has a keen interest in postoperative pain research and medical device innovation, and has been awarded several clinical research grants, including the Nurturing Clinical Researcher Scheme (SingHealth, Singapore), Philanthropy grant (SingHealth, Singapore), Joint Medtech Grant (SingHealth & National Health Innovation Centre, Singapore), Clinician Scientist Seed Grant (MOH, Singapore), and DREAM Innovation Grant (Duke University, USA).

Dr Paul Tan was awarded the coveted National Outstanding Clinician Scientist Resident Award (MOH, Singapore), and the Khoo Scholars Program (Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore) for his research contributions. He has also authored over 40 research publications in international peer-reviewed journals.

Education

  • MHSc Clinical Research (Duke University, USA) 2021
  • MMed Anaesthesiology (NUS, Singapore) 2017
  • MD (Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore) 2013
  • BSc (Hons) Biological Sciences (NTU, Singapore) 2009

Professional Appointments and Committee Memberships

  • Consultant, Department of Women’s Anaesthesia, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, 2022 – Present
  • Clinical Assistant Professor, Duke-NUS Medical School, 2022 - Present
  • Member, Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology
  • Member, Singapore Society of Anaesthesiologists

Awards

  • RiSe Award (outstanding faculty), SingHealth 2022
  • RiSe Award (outstanding faculty), SingHealth 2021
  • Publication Awards (1st prize), SingHealth Anaesthesiology ACP 2021
  • National Outstanding Clinician Scientist Resident Award, Ministry of Health 2020
  • Publication Awards (2nd prize), SingHealth Anaesthesiology ACP 2020

Research Interests

  • Postoperative acute and chronic pain
  • Medical device innovation

Publications

  • Tan HS*, Tan CW, Sultana R, Meaney MJ, Kee MZL, Sng BL. Association of pain, analgesic, psychological, and socioeconomic factors with sub-acute pain after childbirth: a prospective cohort study. Journal of Clinical Anesthesia (2022) Article in Press.
  • Tan CW, Ozdemir S, Sultana R, Tan C, Tan HS, Sng BL. Factors associated with women’s preferences for labor epidural analgesia in Singapore: a survey approach. Nature Scientific Reports (2022) 12(1):10961 (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15152-3).
  • Tan HS, Liu N, Tan CW, Sia ATH, Sng BL. Developing the BTP-RiSc: an interpretable machine learning-based risk score to predict breakthrough pain with labor epidural analgesia. Canadian Journal of Anesthesia (2022) 45:99-110 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijoa.2020.08.010).
  • Tan HS*, Au-Yong PSA, Sultana R, Tan CW, Sia ATH, Sng BL. Comparing cardiac output with double intravenous vasopressor automated system versus manual vasopressor boluses to prevent hypotension during spinal anaesthesia for caesarean delivery: secondary analysis of a randomised controlled study. European Journal of Anaesthesiology (2022) 39(7):626-629 (https://doi.org/10.1097/EJA.0000000000001698). 
  • Ozdemir S, Chen T, Tan CW, Wong WHM, Tan HS, Finkelstein EA, Sng BL. Parturients’ stated preferences for labor analgesia: a discrete choice experiment. Patient Preference and Adherence (2022) 16:983-994. (https://doi.org/10.2147/PPA.S353324)
  • Mims SC, Tan HS, Sun K, Trung P, Rubright S, Kaplan SJ, Habib AS. Long-term morbidities following unintentional dural puncture in obstetric patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Anesthesia (2022) 78:110787. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinane.2022.110787)
  • Tan HS, Guinn NR, Fuller ME, Habib AS. The association between intravenous iron for antenatal anemia and postnatal depression: a retrospective cohort study. Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics (2022) 306:1477-1484 (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-022-06417-3)
  • Tan HS, Mehdiratta JE, Diomede OI, Landreth R, Gatta LA, Weikel D, Habib AS. Quality of labor analgesia with dural puncture epidural versus standard epidural techniques in obese parturients: a double-blind randomized-controlled study. Anesthesiology (2022) 136:678-687. (https://doi.org/10.1097/ALN.0000000000004137)
  • Tan HS*, Sharawi N, Taylor C, Fuller ME, Landreth RA, Diomede OI, Williams M, Martinello C, Mhyre JM, Habib AS. A sequential allocation biased coin design study to determine the ED90 of intrathecal chloroprocaine with fentanyl for prophylactic cervical cerclage. Anesthesia & Analgesia (2022) 134(4):834-842.
  • Tan HS, Du EW, Tan CW, Sultana R, Sng BL. Heart rate variability and haemodynamic factors associated with hypotension during spinal anaesthesia for caesarean delivery: a case control study. European Journal of Anaesthesiology (2022) 39(3):219-226. (https://doi.org/10.1097/EJA.0000000000001551)
  • Tan HS, Tan CW, Sultana R, Lim CH, Chan JJI, Habib AS, Sng BL. Factors associated with postoperative nausea or vomiting in parturients undergoing caesarean delivery under spinal anaesthesia with intrathecal morphine: a prospective cohort study. European Journal of Anaesthesiology (2022) 39:75-77. (https://doi.org/10.1097/EJA.0000000000001427)
  • Tan HS, Taylor C, Sharawi N, Sultana R, Barton KD, Habib AS. Uterine exteriorization vs. in-situ repair in cesarean delivery: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Canadian Journal of Anesthesia (2022) 69:216-233 (https://doi.org/10.1007/s12630-021-02142-8)
  • Tan CW, Tan HS, Lim LL, Sultana R, Sng BL. Translation and linguistic validation of the Chinese version of Angle Labor Pain Questionnaire. Bali Journal of Anesthesiology (2021) 6(1):10-20 (https://doi.org/10.4103/bjoa.bjoa_121_21)
  • Editors: Khor KE, Sia ATH, Cardosa M. Oliceridine chapter: Tan HS. Opioid therapy for pain: a practical guide for clinicians. Red Cell Series (2021)
  • Sim J, Tan CW, Yeam CT, Tan HS, Sultana R, Sng BL. Association of pain catastrophizing and depressive states with multidimensional early labor pain assessment in nulliparous women having epidural analgesia: a secondary analysis. Journal of Pain Research (2021) 14:3099-3107 (https://doi.org/10.2147/JPR.S331703)
  • Tan HS, Sng BL. Persistent pain after childbirth. BJA Education (2021) 22(1):33-37 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjae.2021.09.001)
  • Tan HS, Agarthesh T, Tan CW, Sultana R, Chan HY, Chua TE, Sng BL. Perceived stress during labor and its association with depressive symptomatology, anxiety, and pain catastrophizing. Nature Scientific Reports (2021) 11:17005 (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-96620-0)
  • Tan HS, Habib AS. Safety evaluation of oliceridine for the management of postoperative moderate-to-severe acute pain. Expert Opinion on Drug Safety (2021) (10.1080/14740338.2021.1965989)
  • Tan CW, Tan HS, Sultana R, Chui A, Chua TE, Chen H, Sng BL. Association of childbirth pain with postnatal depressive and anxiety disorders in nulliparous parturients: a prospective study. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment (2021) 17:2625-2636 (https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S321367)
  • Reed SE, Tan HS, Fuller ME, Krishnamoorthy V, Ohnuma T, Raghunathan K, Habib AS. Analgesia after cesarean delivery in the United States 2008-2018: A retrospective cohort study. Anesthesia & Analgesia (2021) 133(6):1550-8. (https://doi.org/10.1213/ANE.0000000000005587)
  • Tan HS, Diomede O, Habib AS. Postoperative analgesia after cesarean delivery. International Anesthesiology Clinics (2021) 59(3):90-97. (https://doi.org/0.1097/AIA.0000000000000321)
  • Tan HS, Habib AS. Oliceridine: A novel drug for the management of moderate to severe acute pain - A review of current evidence. Journal of Pain Research (2021) 14:969-979. (https://doi.org/10.2147/JPR.S278279)
  • Tan HS, Frere Z, Krishnamoorthy V, Ohnuma T, Raghunathan K, Habib AS. Association of gabapentinoid utilisation with postoperative pulmonary complications in gynecologic surgery: a retrospective cohort study. Current Medical Research and Opinion (2021) 37(5):821-828. (https://doi.org/10.1080/03007995.2021.1900092)
  • Tan HS, Habib AS. Obesity in women: anaesthetic implications for peri-operative and peripartum management. Anaesthesia (2021) 76:108-117. (https://doi.org/10.1111/anae.15403) (JIF 5.8)
  • Tan HS, Tan CW, Sultana R, Shah M, Leong WL, Sng DD, Sia ATH, Sng BL. Perioperative factors associated with sub-acute pain after childbirth. Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (2020) 45:1017-1018. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/rapm-2020-101750)
  • Tan HS, Dewinter G, Habib AS. The next generation of antiemetics for the management of postoperative nausea and vomiting. Best Practice and Research Clinical Anaesthesiology (2020) 34(4):759-769. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpa.2020.11.004)
  • Lim MJ, Tan HS, Tan CW, Li SY, Yao WY, Yuan YJ, Sultana R, Sng BL. The effects of labor on airway outcomes with Supreme laryngeal mask in women undergoing cesarean delivery under general anesthesia: a cohort study. BMC Anesthesiology (2020) 20:213. (https://doi.org/10.1186/s12871-020-01132-5)
  • Lim MJ, Tan CW, Tan HS, Sultana R, Eley V, Sng BL. Correlation of patient characteristics with arm and finger measurements in Asian parturients: a preliminary study. BMC Anesthesiology (2020) 20:218. (https://doi.org/10.1186/s12871-020-01131-6)
  • Tan HS, Sultana R, Han NLR, Tan CW, Sia ATH, Sng BL. The association between preoperative pain catastrophizing and chronic pain after hysterectomy - secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study. Journal of Pain Research (2020) 13:2151. (https://dx.doi.org/10.2147%2FJPR.S255336)
  • Tan HS, Cooter M, George, RB, Habib AS. A risk score for postoperative nausea and vomiting in women undergoing cesarean delivery with intrathecal morphine. International Journal of Obstetric Anesthesia (2020) 44:126-130. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijoa.2020.08.008)
  • Tan HS*, Liu N, Sultana R, Han NLR, Tan CW, Zhang J, Sia ATH, Sng BL. Prediction of breakthrough pain during labour neuraxial analgesia: comparison of machine learning and multivariable regression approaches. International Journal of Obstetric Anesthesia (2020) 45:99-110. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijoa.2020.08.010
  • Tan HS, Gan YT, Tan EC, Nagarajan S, Sultana R, Han NLR, Sia ATH, Sng BL. Association of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system genetic polymorphisms with maternal hypotension during spinal anaesthesia for caesarean delivery - a retrospective cohort study. International Journal of Obstetric Anesthesia (2020) 44:3-12 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijoa.2020.06.005)
  • Tan HS, Taylor C, Weikel D, Barton K, Habib AS. Quadratus lumborum block for postoperative analgesia after cesarean delivery: a systematic review with meta-analysis and trial-sequential analysis. Journal of Clinical Anesthesia (2020) 67:110003 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinane.2020.110003)
  • Tan HS, Habib AS. The optimum management of nausea and vomiting during and after cesarean delivery. Best Practice and Research Clinical Anaesthesiology (2020) 34(4):735-747. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpa.2020.04.012)
  • Yao WY, Li SY, Yuan YJ, Tan HS, Han NL, Sultana R, Assam PN, Sia ATH, Sng BL. Comparison of Supreme laryngeal mask airway versus endotracheal intubation for airway management during general anesthesia for cesarean section: a randomised controlled trial. BMC Anesthesiology (2019) 19:123. (https://doi.org/10.1186/s12871-019-0792-9)
  • Tan HS, Li SY, Yao WY, Yuan YJ, Sultana R, Han NL, Sia ATH, Sng BL. Association of Mallampati scoring on airway outcomes in women undergoing general anesthesia with Supreme laryngeal mask airway in cesarean section. BMC Anesthesiology (2019) 19:122. (https://doi.org/10.1186/s12871-019-0796-5)
  • Tan HS, Sng BL, Sia ATH. Reducing breakthrough pain during labour analgesia: an update. Curr. Opinion in Anaesthesiology (2019) 32:307-314. (https://doi.org/10.1097/ACO.0000000000000713)
  • Sng BL, Tan HS, Sia ATH. Closed-loop double-vasopressor automated system vs manual bolus vasopressor to treat hypotension during spinal anaesthesia for caesarean section: a randomised controlled trial. Anaesthesia (2014) 69(1):35-45 (https://doi.org/10.1111/anae.12460) (JIF 5.8)
  • Tan HS, Sng BL. Control of blood pressure during spinal anaesthesia for caesarean section. Trends in Anaesthesia and Critical Care (2013) 3:166-170 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tacc.2013.02.010) (JIF 0.8)
  • Sia ATH, Sng BL, Tan HS. Interactive technology in obstetric anaesthesia and analgesia: exploring seamless solutions to jagged problems. International Journal of Obstetric Anesthesia (2013) 22(4):322-8 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijoa.2013.07.004)
  • Sia ATH, Tan HS, Sng BL. Closed-loop double vasopressor automated system to treat hypotension during spinal anaesthesia for Caesarean section: a preliminary study. Anaesthesia (2012) 67(12):1348-55 (https://doi.org/10.1111/anae.12000)
  • Park JE, Tan HS, Datta A, Lai RC, Zhang H, Meng W, Lim SK, Sze SK. Hypoxic tumor cell modulates its microenvironment to enhance angiogenic and metastatic potential by secretion of proteins and exosomes. Molecular and Cellular Proteomics (2010) 9:1085-1099. (https://doi.org/10.1074/mcp.M900381-MCP200)

Research Trials

  • Nurturing Clinical Researcher Scheme, SGD $165,000 (PI) 2022 - 2025
    SingHealth Duke-NUS Anaesthesiology and Perioperative Sciences Academic Clinical Programme
    Preoperative assessment of heart rate variability (HRV), anxiety, and anticipated pain and their associations with significant postoperative pain after hysterectomy: a prospective cohort study.
  • Philanthropy Grant, SGD $25,000 (Principal Investigator) 2021 - 2022
    SingHealth Duke-NUS Anaesthesiology and Perioperative Sciences Academic Clinical Programme
    The correlation between quality of recovery and maternal outcomes after childbirth.
  • Joint MedTech Grant, SGD $100,000 (Principal Investigator) 2021 - 2022
    SingHealth Duke-NUS AM & National Health Innovation Centre
    Position and Angle Marking System (PAMS) for ultrasound-guided neuraxial procedures.
  • DREAM Innovation Grant, SGD $30,000  (Co-Investigator) 2019 - 2022
    Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
    The role of cerebrospinal fluid and serum biomarkers and neuro-inflammation in chronic pain and perinatal depression after caesarean delivery.
  • Clinician Scientist Seed Grant, SGD $50,000 (Principal Investigator) 2019 - 2022
    Ministry of Health, Singapore
    Evaluation of associated perioperative risk factors for chronic post-hysterectomy pain: a prospective cohort study. (EPOCH: Enhancing Postoperative Outcomes in Chronic pain after Hysterectomy)
  • Pilot Research Grant, SGD $10,000 (Principal Investigator) 2017 - 2018
    SingHealth Anaesthesiology Academic Clinical Program, Singapore
    The role of angiotensin genetic polymorphism in predicting the risk of hypotension during spinal anaesthesia for caesarean delivery.