Minimally Invasive Pain Treatments
Factors such as the type and severity of your pain, underlying conditions, and personal preferences will be considered to develop an individualized treatment plan. Let us be your partner in attaining a life where pain no longer holds you back.
Epidural steroid injections (ESI):
Epidural steroid injections are a common treatment for neck and back pain. It is a way to deliver pain medicine quickly into the body with a syringe. The medicine is injected into the epidural area. This is a fat-filled area that covers the spinal cord to protect it and the surrounding nerves from damage.
Transforaminal epidural steroid injections / selective nerve root blocks (lumbar, cervical, thoracic):
An epidural injection involves releasing medication directly into the area around the irritated spinal nerves causing the pain. This area is called the epidural space and is the area around the sheath-shaped protective membrane called the dura mater, which covers the spinal nerves and their roots.
Facet Joint Injections (lumbar, cervical, thoracic):
Facet joint injections are steroid injections into the facet joints of the spine. The articular facets of the spine provide stability along the various regions of the spine, including the lumbar and cervical regions. When a patient is suffering from arthritis, stress, or facet joint injury, a facet joint injection can help relieve pain.
Medial branch blocks (lumbar, cervical, thoracic):
A medial branch block is is a type of spinal injection to temporarily block the pain signals coming from the medial nerves. A medial branch block can provide temporary pain relief, but is mostly a diagnostic tool to determine the source of your back pain and the next steps in your treatment plan.
Radiofrequency Ablation (rhizotomy) of lumbar, cervical, thoracic medial branch nerves:
Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) is a minimally invasive procedure that is performed in outpatient settings. It is a nonsurgical, minimally invasive procedure that uses heat to reduce or stop the transmission of pain. The radiofrequency ablation treatment is a relatively safe and low-risk procedure.
Kyphoplasty (lumbar, thoracic):
The Kyphoplasty is a minimally invasive surgery designed to treat vertebral body compression fractures, which are small breaks in the thick mass of bone that makes up the front part of your spinal column (the vertebral body). Kyphoplasty is generally reserved for people with painful progressive (increasing) back pain caused by osteoporotic or pathologic vertebral compression fractures. Candidates for these procedures often have a reduced ability to move and function because of the fractures.
Spinal cord stimulator (trials and implantations)
Spinal cord stimulators (SCS) may be used to treat or manage different types of chronic pain, including: Back pain, especially back pain that continues even after surgery (failed back surgery syndrome) Post-surgical pain. SCS therapy works by interrupting pain signals before they reach your brain. This can help with pain relief, even when other therapies have failed.
DRG Stimulation (trials and implantations)
Sacroiliac joint injection
Sacroiliac joint injection is there to diagnose or treat pain that may be coming from your sacroiliac joint. This joint connects the bone at the base of your spine (sacrum) to the large pelvis bones (ilium). You have two sacroiliac joints, one on each side of the body. They connect the sacrum to each side of the pelvis. These joints act as shock absorbers. They transmit weight and forces between the upper body and the legs.
MILD (Minimally Invasive Lumbar Decompression)
Minimally invasive lumbar decompression is an outpatient procedure that relieves pressure on the spine. To restore space in the spinal canal and reduce the compression of the nerves, MILD® certified doctor uses an imaging machine and specialized tools to remove small pieces of bone and thickened ligament. The MILD® Procedure is different from traditional back surgery because it is an outpatient procedure that does not require general anesthesia, implants, stitches, steroids or opioids. The procedure is suitable for patients who have moderate or severe lumbar spinal stenosis.
The Vertiflex™ Procedure (Superion)
The Vertiflex™ is a minimally invasive stand-alone interspinous process decompression (IPD) procedure. It provides patients with a clinically proven, minimally invasive solution that is designed to deliver long-term relief from the leg and back pain associated with LSS.
The Vertiflex procedure is used primarily to treat patients who have moderate lumbar spinal stenosis. However, any patient with a spinal condition that also involves spinal stenosis could be a candidate.
Nucleoplasty (percutaneous disc decompression) (lumbar, thoracic):
Nucleoplasty is a minimally invasive, image-guided therapy used to treat back pain and leg pain caused by herniated discs. Candidates for Nucleoplasty include people who have chronic back pain lasting at least six weeks and debilitation due to disc herniation after traditional treatments have failed.
Percutaneous Lumbar Laser Discectomy
It is a minimally invasive procedure for treating the spine, particularly herniated discs. Procedures involving percutaneous (through the skin) disc decompression are intended to relieve intradiscal pressure and eliminate symptoms associated with compression of nerve structures adjacent to the discs.
The Intracept® Procedure
The outpatient procedure for proven relief of chronic vertebrogenic low back pain. The Intracept® Procedure is indicated for patients who have had chronic low back pain for at least six months, who have tried conservative care for at least six months, and whose MRI shows features consistent with Modic changes – indicating damage at the vertebral endplates has led to inflammation.
Sacroiliac Joint Fusion
Like all orthopedic joints, the SI joint can degenerate and become a pain generator. This is why surgeons have been treating SI joint dysfunction since the early 1900’s. 15-25% of patients presenting with low back pain actually have SI joint dysfunction. Up to 75% of postoperative lumbar fusion patients will develop significant SI joint degeneration after 5 years.
SI Fusion allows for stabilization of the SI joint in eligible patients whre other treatment has failed.
Patients who may be candidates for SI stabilization: low back, hip or leg pain; failed a combination of previous treatments; failed spine fusion.
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP)
Platelet-rich plasma therapy is a form of regenerative medicine that can harness healing abilities and amplify the natural growth factors body uses to heal tissue. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy uses injections of a concentration of a patient’s own platelets to accelerate the healing of injured tendons, ligaments, muscles and joints. In this way, PRP injections use each individual patient’s own healing system to improve musculoskeletal problems.
Peripheral nerve blocks (pudendal, intercostal, ilio-inquinal, occipital)
The peripheral nerve block is a kind of partial anesthesia that is designed to control the pain in a more enduring way. With this technique, it is possible to reduce the use of potent systemic analgesic drugs. The peripheral nerve block may also be applied with other anesthetic techniques, such as sedation and anesthesia.