Interventional Pain Management
For some, finding pain relief can seem like a lofty goal after numerous back-and-forth visits between primary care provider and specialist or undergoing ineffective prescription or over-the-counter drug therapies. Advanced interventional pain management may be the solution to a better quality of life. Interventional pain management utilizes a multidisciplinary approach to provide a full range of treatments and services for patients suffering from acute and chronic pain conditions. Interventional pain management techniques are used for a variety of purposes: diagnostic, to determine the source of pain; therapeutic, to treat painful conditions; prognostic, to predict outcome of other interventional treatments; and preemptive, to prevent other pain conditions that could result from certain procedures. Read on for information on available interventional treatment options.
| Type | Application |
| Epidural Steroid Injections (Interlaminar vs. Transforminal) | Medications injected into the epidural space (inside the spinal canal but outside the dural membrane which covers the nerve roots) to relieve pain and/or diagnose a condition |
| Sacroiliac Joint Injection | Medications injected into the sacroiliac joint, or large connection between the sacrum (bottom of the spine) and the pelvis, to relieve pain, stiffness, or inflammation |
| Nerve Root/Medial Branch Blocks/Radiofrequency Rhizotomy | Medications injected into the nerve root itself or, in the case of medial branch blocks, the nerves that go to a joint. Radiofrequency rhizotomy uses highly localized heat to destroy nerves in joints. (All variations block pain signals from the spine to the brain.) |
| Spinal Cord and Peripheral Nerve Stimulators | Electrical impulses used to block pain from being perceived in the brain |
| Intra-thecal Drug Pumps | Pain medication delivered directly to the fluid around the spinal cord through a surgically implanted device |
Other pain management procedures include epidurolysis in which scar tissue around entrapped nerves in the epidural space of the spine is dissolved so that medications can better reach affected areas and provocative discography in which a liquid is injected into the nucleus of the intervertebral disc under image guidance to reproduce discogenic pain and provide diagnostic information for treatment. The interventional pain management physicians at our medical center will work with you to determine if interventional pain management is the best approach to treating your condition, and if so, what option will be the most effective.
