Interventional Pain Management

Interventional pain management is a specialized medical field dedicated to diagnosing and treating chronic pain through targeted, minimally invasive procedures. Unlike pharmacological approaches that rely on systemic medications, these interventions aim to directly address the pain source, offering both diagnostic clarity and therapeutic relief.

The core philosophy is to disrupt the pain pathway.

Common procedures include:

• Diagnostic Nerve Blocks: Injecting local anesthetics near specific nerves to confirm a pain generator. If pain resolves temporarily, it pinpoints the source and can predict the success of more permanent treatments.

• Therapeutic Injections: Epidural steroid injections for spinal nerve inflammation, facet joint injections for arthritis-related back pain, and nerve ablations that use heat or cold to deliberately disrupt a nerve’s ability to transmit pain signals for longer-term relief.

• Advanced Neuromodulation: For complex, intractable pain, spinal cord stimulators or dorsal root ganglion stimulators implant devices that deliver electrical impulses, masking pain signals before they reach the brain.

• Vertebroplasty/Kyphoplasty: Procedures to stabilize painful spinal compression fractures by injecting bone cement into the fractured vertebra.

These image-guided techniques (using fluoroscopy or ultrasound) ensure precision, enhancing safety and efficacy. Indications range from persistent back and neck pain, sciatica, and complex regional pain syndrome, to arthritic joint pain and cancer-related pain.

As a cornerstone of multimodal pain management, interventional techniques are often integrated with physical therapy, medication, and behavioral approaches. The primary goals are to reduce pain, improve physical function and quality of life, and minimize reliance on opioid medications, providing a crucial pathway for patients when conservative treatments have failed.