Diagnostic and Therapeutic
We offer a variety of minimally invasive procedures to diagnose and treat your pain. These procedures are quick, safe and effective, and are performed in our onsite procedure room.
Transforaminal epidural steroid injections
This procedure is usually performed if you have recently developed leg pain due to an irritated nerve in your lower back. This method of performing the injection maximizes the dose of anti-inflammatory medicine at the site where the nerve irritation takes place.
Medial branch block and medial branch denervation
This procedure is used to find out whether pain in your neck or back is coming from arthritis of the facet joint, small stabilizing joints located between and behind adjacent vertebrae. These joints develop arthritic pain, just like any other joint in your body. The purpose of this nerve block is to reduce pain by injecting local anesthetic specifically near the nerve supply for the joints.
If you have a successful series of medial branch blocks, you might consider a long-term treatment, called medial branch denervation. The denervation procedure is similar to the diagnostic blocks, but instead of injecting local anesthetic (numbing) medicine, the doctor uses a device that generates radiofrequency energy to heat the tissue just at the end of the needle.
Peripheral and sympathetic nerve blocks
Peripheral and sympathetic nerves are the nerves outside of the brain and spinal cord. These nerves transmit sensation from your body and control sweating and blood flow. They can be damaged or their function changed by trauma, surgery, chronic pain, scar tissue or illness. Blocking some of these nerves can help provide pain relief.
Botox
Botulinum toxin is produced by Clostridium botulinum, a gram-positive anaerobic bacterium. Botulinum toxin can be useful to treat certain types of pain, such as headaches (migraines especially), piriformis syndrome, myofascial pain (muscle pain) and some other types of pain problems. Often botulinum toxin is not covered by insurance so we will work for insurance authorization but in some cases it will not be covered.
Spinal cord stimulation
A spinal cord stimulator (SCS), also known as a dorsal column stimulator (DCS), is an implantable medical device used to treat chronic neurological pain. The device generates electrical impulses that decrease your perception of pain.
This device may be done for several different types of pain syndromes. Your provider at the Comprehensive Pain Center will be able to provide you with more information.