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Nerve Blocks are injections of anesthetic and/or corticosteroid medication into selective nerves to diagnose or treat multiple pain conditions.
Sympathetic nerve dysfunction can manifest as pain in the head, face, neck, chest, abdomen, and upper or lower extremities. Sympathetic nerves are responsible for the transmission of pain signals from one area of the body to higher processing centers, such as the brain.
Historically, medical science has developed treatment interventions aimed to anesthetize, or lesion nerves to diminish the sensation of pain in a specific body part from which the selective nerve serves.
Nerve blocks have been proven to be an effective and beneficial treatment for multiple pain conditions. The most common conditions include cancer and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS)
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Sympathetic Nerve Blocks
- Stellate ganglion Block/upper extremities, face, and chest
- Lumbar sympathetic block/lower extremity
- Celiac plexus block/Upper abdomen
- Hypogastric plexus blocks/Lower abdomen, pelvic
- Ganglion impair blocks/Rectal and pelvic
Nerve Blocks
- Interscalene Nerve Block/shoulder, upper arm, forearm and hand pain
- Humerus fracture
- Rotator cuff repair
- Osteoarthritis of shoulder
- Intercostal Nerve Block/Chest wall and Rib Pain
- Rib fracture
- Chronic pain post mastectomy
- Postoperative pain of chest or upper abdominal surgery
- Post herpetic pain syndrome of chest or lateral trunk
- Ilioinguinal Nerve Block/inguinal, groin, pelvic pain
- Iliohypogastric Nerve Block/inguinal, groin, and pelvic pain
- Genitofemoral Nerve Block/groin and genital pain
- Genicular Nerve Block/knee pain
- Occipital Nerve Block/ posterior head pain associated with Occipital Neuralgia
- Headaches
- Neck Pain
- Supraorbital Nerve Block/ Anterior head pain
- Sphenopalatine & Gasserian Ganglion Nerve Blocks/ Severe facial pain associated with trigeminal neuralgia
- Trigeminal Nerve Block/ Facial pain associated with Trigeminal Neuralgia
Procedure
- The duration of pain relief experienced with nerve blocks vary from temporary to long term. Fortunately, if nerve blocks are successful they will likely continue to provide pain relief with repeated intermittent injections, or lead to more advanced therapies such as chemical neurolytic blocks or radiofrequency ablation.
- Nerve block injections can be done with or without sedation. Nerve blocks are always done under fluoroscopy to reduce the risk associated with procedure. The procedure is typically less than 30 minutes.
Conditions that involve sympathetic nerve dysfunction are extremely difficulty to treat with oral medication only. Nerve blocks are a CRITICAL addition to an effective treatment plan.
Nerve blocks alone can provide COMPLETE pain relief to terminal cancer patients. Nerve blocks should be included as adjunctive therapy to significantly IMPROVE quality of life in cancer patients as they complete treatment.
At Modern Pain Consultants, nerve blocks are an important primary therapy in a multitude of pain conditions.
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Spine Specialists