Center for Pain Management Procedure

Description of procedure: Your doctor may request this procedure due to neck, shoulder and/or arm pain. There are two major reasons to perform this procedure: 1) to determine whether particular facet joints are causing your symptoms, and 2) to provide temporary pain relief. Although these goals are usually achieved, it is impossible to guarantee that the cause of your pain will be identified, and your pain will be decreased. The period of relief is variable and unpredictable in each patient.

After the facet block, the short-acting anesthetic can make your arms feel numb or weak. You should minimize activity for 2-3 hours, then resume routine daily activities as tolerated. You should not drive a car until your arms feel normal. You can leave the hospital immediately if you have someone who can help you.

Risks associated with this procedure: Complications are infrequent but possible. Pain may be worsened after the procedure. The needle may cause local bleeding or rarely infection. Other risks include allergic or adverse reaction to the x-ray dye or medications. Permanent numbness and weakness are theoretically possible.

Description of procedure: Your doctor may request this procedure due to neck, shoulder, arm and/or hand pain. There are two major reasons to perform this procedure: 1) to determine whether a particular nerve is causing your symptoms, and 2) to provide temporary pain relief. Although these goals are usually achieved, it is impossible to guarantee that the cause of your pain will be identified, and your pain will be decreased. The period of relief is variable and unpredictable in each patient.

After the nerve block, the short-acting anesthetic can make your arm feel numb or weak. You should minimize activity for 2-3 hours, then resume routine daily activities as tolerated. You should not drive a car until your arm feels normal. You can leave the hospital immediately if you have someone who can help you. If you have questions or concerns, please call your doctor or one of the radiologists.

Risks associated with this procedure: Complications are infrequent but possible. Pain may be worsened after the procedure. The needle may cause local bleeding or rarely infection. Other risks include allergic or adverse reaction to the x-ray dye or medications, and headache. Permanent numbness and weakness are theoretically possible.

Description of procedure: Your doctor may request this procedure due to back and/or leg pain. Discography is used to determine the source of symptoms in anticipation of surgery. It is also used to verify the painful disk level when other diagnostic tests show multiple abnormal disks. Usually, discography is performed when conservative (non-operative) treatment has failed, and noninvasive tests (such as MRI) have not provided sufficient diagnostic information.

Following discography, you may experience worsening of symptoms for several hours. You should minimize activity during this time. Continue bed rest or light duties as tolerated for 24 hours. DO NOT do any strenuous exercise, house work or heavy lifting for 24 hours. You can leave the hospital immediately if you have someone who can help you. If you have questions or concerns, please call your doctor or one of the radiologists.

Risks associated with this procedure: Discography is an invasive procedure. Complications are infrequent but possible. The most important complication is infection of the disk (discitis), occurring in 0.1-0.2% of patients. Depending on your allergies to medications, antibiotics may be used during the procedure. Other risks include bleeding, spinal headache, damage to nerves or disks, and allergic reaction to the x-ray dye or other medications. Pain will be temporarily worsened after the procedure.

Description of procedure: Your doctor may request this procedure due to back and/or leg pain. The purpose of this procedure is to provide temporary pain relief. Although this goal is usually achieved, it is impossible to guarantee that your pain will be decreased. The period of relief is variable and unpredictable.

After the epidural injection, the short-acting anesthetic agent can make your legs feel numb or weak. You should minimize activity for 4-5 hours, then resume routine daily activities as tolerated. You must be careful not to trip and fall. You should not drive a car until your legs feel normal. You can leave the hospital immediately if you have someone who can help you. If you have questions or concerns, please call your doctor or one of the musculoskeletal radiologists.

Risks associated with this procedure: Complications are infrequent but possible. Pain may be worsened after the procedure. The needle may cause local bleeding or rarely infection. Other risks include allergic or adverse reaction to the x-ray dye or medications, and arachnoiditis (inflammation around nerve roots). Some patients develop leg weakness until the short-acting anesthetic agent wears off. Accidental needle placement into the space that contains spinal fluid may necessitate termination of the procedure and rescheduling.

Description of procedure: Your doctor may request this procedure due to back, buttock, hip and/or thigh pain. There are two major reasons to perform this procedure: 1) to determine whether particular facet joints are causing your symptoms, and 2) to provide temporary pain relief. Although these goals are usually achieved, it is impossible to guarantee that the cause of your pain will be identified, and your pain will be decreased. The period of relief is variable and unpredictable in each patient.

After the facet block, the short-acting anesthetic can make your legs feel numb or weak. You should minimize activity for 4-5 hours, then resume routine daily activities as tolerated. You should not drive a car until your legs feel normal. You can leave the hospital immediately if you have someone who can help you. If you have questions or concerns, please call your doctor or one of the musculoskeletal radiologists.

Risks associated with this procedure: Complications are infrequent but possible. Pain may be worsened after the procedure. The needle may cause local bleeding or rarely infection. Other risks include allergic or adverse reaction to the x-ray dye or medications. Permanent numbness and weakness are theoretically possible.

Description of procedure: Your doctor may request this procedure due to back and/or leg pain. There are two major reasons to perform this procedure: 1) to determine whether a particular nerve is causing your symptoms, and 2) to provide temporary pain relief. Although these goals are usually achieved, it is impossible to guarantee that the cause of your pain will be identified, and your pain will be decreased. The period of relief is variable and unpredictable in each patient.

After the nerve block, the short-acting anesthetic can make your legs feel numb or weak. You should minimize activity for 4-5 hours, then resume routine daily activities as tolerated. You must be careful not to trip and fall. You should not drive a car until your leg feels normal. You can leave the hospital immediately if you have someone who can help you. If you have questions or concerns, please call your doctor or the one of the musculoskeletal radiologists.

Risks associated with this procedure: Complications are infrequent but possible. Pain may be worsened after the procedure. The needle may cause local bleeding or rarely infection. Other risks include allergic or adverse reaction to the x-ray dye or medications. Permanent numbness and weakness are theoretically possible.