Common Nerve Blocks Nerves send sensory impulses to the brain for interpretation. These impulses travel in a regular pattern when the nervous system is working correctly. When a nerve is…

Spinal Cord Stimulation Since 15 BC electricity has been used to treat pain. Ancient Roman physicians used the torpedo fish, also known as electric ray, to treat headaches and gout….

Introduction

Programmable Intrathecal Pain Pump There are several ways of delivering pain medication. Typical routes of administration are oral, transdermal, intramuscular, intravenous, and epidural. Programmable intrathecal pain pumps were developed to…

Discogenic Pain: Lumbar Discography A vertebral disc is built like a jelly doughnut. The inner jelly part is the nucleus pulposus and the outer layer is the anulus fibrosus (Fig….

Injections for Headache (Occipital Nerve Blocks and Botulinum Toxin Injections) The medical equivalent of epic novels has been written on the comprehensive management of headache. Per the mission of this…

Joint and Associated Bursa Injections: Shoulders, Elbows, Hips, and Knees Joints and their associated bursas can be injected with a corticosteroid and local anesthetic to reduce both pain and inflammation….

Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Vertebral compression fractures (VCFs) are a significant problem. In the United States, more than 700,000 age-related osteoporotic compression fractures occur per year. One in two women and…

Sympathetic Blocks: Stellate, Celiac, Lumbar, Superior Hypogastric, and Ganglion Impar The sympathetic chain is a bundle of nerves that runs from the base of the skull to the tip of…

Epidural Steroid Injections Most people think of an epidural injection as what is administered to a woman for pain control before she delivers her baby. The word epidural simply refers…