Regional Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine
We use local anesthetics in surgical procedures to block sensations of pain from such areas of the body as the arms, legs, and abdomen. Regional anesthesia is increasingly used in such surgical areas as orthopaedics, vascular, and gynecology due to the development of ultrasound-guided placement techniques, and the use of catheters for delivery of continuous local anesthesia. Our specialists are trained in ultrasound, nerve stimulation, and landmark-guided peripheral nerve blocks using both single injection and continuous catheter techniques.
Our Services
We offer pain management and care in two areas: an inpatient Acute Pain Service (APS) and the outpatient Center for the Assessment and Management of Pain (CAMP). Our APS specialists offer care for postsurgical pain, pain from chronic medical conditions, cancer pain, and various chronic pain syndromes in adults and children. Our CAMP team focuses on the assessment and management of a wide variety of painful conditions not related to the spine or cancer.
For patients with chronic pain, we incorporate primary care, psychiatry, pain psychology, neurology, neurosurgery, and physical and occupational therapy services into our treatment.
For patients in the hospital, we utilize a variety of pain relief medication approaches and delivery pathways (including oral, topical, transdermal, patient-controlled analgesia [PCA], and intravenous), as well as interventional therapies, such as regional anesthetic blocks, to optimize pain control. We also strive to incorporate alternative methods in treating pain whenever applicable, such as the use of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS).
For outpatients, we specialize in the management of pain related to:
- Spinal stenosis
- Disk disease
- Radiculopathy
- Facet arthropathy
- Spondylosis, spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis
- Post-laminectomy syndrome
- Cervicogenic headaches
- Sacroiliac joint dysfunction
- Piriformis syndrome
- Hip dysfunction
- Neuropathic and myofascial pain syndromes
For spine-related pain, our comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to treatment includes a wide variety of oral, topical, and transdermal medications; TENS units; and advanced interventions carried out in our procedure suite. At this facility, which is equipped with fluoroscopy and ultrasound, we offer epidural steroid injections, sacroiliac and other joint injections, bursa injections, piriformis injections, trigger point injections, facet medial branch blocks, radiofrequency ablation procedures, peripheral nerve injections, sympathetic blocks, and spinal cord stimulation.
For patients with cancer, we offer a cancer pain treatment program atSmilow Cancer Hospital. These treatments include the latest interventions, such as various types of nerve blocks using advanced image guidance and implantable drug delivery systems to treat patients with a variety of cancers at different stages in their cancer care.