What Is Interventional Pain Management? – 6 Common Procedures

Pain, whether chronic or severe, can flip anybody’s world upside down. Once-enjoyable activities could become difficult due to extreme discomfort. Even spending time with family members and friends might become challenging. If drugs and other conservative therapeutic approaches have failed, do not lose hope! Jay M. Shah MD, believes there are numerous other approaches that can treat chronic pain and help you resume normal activities. Interventional pain management is a technique that utilizes pain-blocking strategies to make patients’ daily activities easier and efficiently restore their life quality. Here are some of the most common interventional pain management procedures.

1. Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Treatment

PRP permits patients to utilize their blood to relieve pain and aid in healing soft tissue injuries, like tendon and ligament tears. Plasma carries platelets, white blood cells, and red blood cells in the blood.

In this treatment, your doctor will draw a small amount of your blood and use a centrifuge to isolate the platelets. Then, guided by ultrasound imaging, your specialist will inject this substance into your wounded cartilage or tendon. Within six weeks, you should observe enhanced function and reduced discomfort.

2. Epidural Steroid Injections

Epidural steroid injections are a minimally intrusive treatment that could help alleviate leg, back, neck, and arm discomfort caused by irritated spinal nerves. In a lumbar epidural injection, your doctor will inject a corticosteroid and anesthetic mixture into the epidural area surrounding the spinal nerve roots. This anti-inflammatory medication relieves swelling produced by spinal disorders that compress or irritate the nerve roots.

The most typical method of this treatment is through the rear of the spine, also known as an interlaminar injection. However, once the injection is administered from the side where the nerve leaves the spine, it is referred to as a transforaminal injection. Your doctor will determine the optimal treatment plan for you. Most patients enjoy huge relief in about two injections.

3. Spinal Cord Stimulation

Spinal cord stimulation can effectively treat virtually any cause of chronic pain associated with the spine. Electrical leads are implanted near the spinal column throughout this technique, while a small generator is implanted in the buttock or belly. The generator sends electrical signals to the spinal column, preventing the brain from perceiving pain.

4. Peripheral Nerve Stimulation

This procedure is like spinal cord stimulation except that it targets various body areas. The electrical lines are put as near as possible to the cause of the discomfort, employing the same general procedure as Spinal Cord Stimulation.

5. Radiofrequency Ablation

This therapy is excellent for neck and lower back pain, particularly if triggered by arthritis. This approach employs a radio wave to generate an electrical current, which is later utilized to heat nerve tissue to reduce pain signals.

6. Selective Root Nerve Block

This procedure is a shot of a steroid, lidocaine derivative, or both, administered at the point at which the nerve root leaves the spinal canal. A selective nerve root block could be performed to confirm a diagnosis, prepare for a foraminotomy treatment, or relieve an irritated or infected nerve root.

Finding relief from chronic pain could be hard and time-consuming for patients. In a quest for a solution to their pain problems, patients are often shuttled back and forth between primary care doctors, specialists, and various types of therapists. Luckily, interventional pain management is viable for individuals who have tried all other treatment options and could be the answer for your chronic pain. Unlike most other procedures, international pain therapy often targets the root cause of your pain concerns. Talk to your pain specialist about your concerns and explore the available options.