What is Interventional Pain Medicine?

Treatment of pain by invasive interventions which usually involve injections of local anesthetic with or without steroids (cortisone). Many of these procedures are done under guidance, eg. ultrasound or fluoroscopy.

Why do we do these procedures?

It may be for treatment or diagnosis of painful conditions. We typically hope for 2-3 months of symptom improvement. Some patients experience shorter or longer pain relief. The procedures may also be primarily or diagnostic use. In that instance, the relief of symptoms may be shorter, but the primary goal would be to find out if a specific structure is causative in the patient’s pain.

Who can be seen as appropriate patients?

Patients with localized pain.

Chronic widespread pain conditions do not respond well to localized procedures.

Some patients have found prolotherapy to work. Below a video