Top Four Most Commonly Performed Injection Procedures for Pain

Some of the most common conditions that cause frequent pain include arthritis, herniated disc, scoliosis, carpal tunnel syndrome, headaches, shingles, and vertebral compression fracture. Fortunately, many interventional pain procedures can drastically reduce or cure the pain associated with these conditions. The following are some of the most common injection procedures for pain management.

Cervical Epidural Steroid Injection
Conditions such as spinal stenosis, herniated discs, and degenerative disc disease may cause pain in the arms, neck, and shoulders. Cervical epidural steroid injections will relieve these uncomfortable symptoms by reducing the inflammation of the associated nerves. This reduction in swelling is accomplished through the injection of anti-inflammatory medication into the epidural space. Depending on the severity of the pain, some patients may need as many as three cervical epidural steroid injections to provide significant relief of the symptoms.

Lumbar Sympathetic Block Procedure
A lumbar sympathetic block procedure is performed to treat many conditions including complex regional pain syndrome, chronic lower extremity pain, and chronic neuropathic pain. Once a patient is lying on his/her back, the doctor will slide a needle around the sympathetic nerves to prevent pain signals from traveling to the brain. This procedure usually requires multiple injections to completely relieve leg pain.

Peripheral Nerve Stimulation
The purpose of peripheral nerve stimulation is to treat conditions like post-surgical pain, complex regional pain syndrome, back/neck pain, and trigeminal neuralgia. By using electrical impulses from electrodes, the procedure targets the path of the painful nerve in order to disrupt the perception of pain from traveling to the brain. Peripheral nerve stimulation is typically performed in a seven-day trial under local anesthetic and intravenous sedation.

Sphenopalatine Ganglion Injection 
A doctor may perform a sphenopalatine ganglion injection to reduce acute and chronic facial and head pain. Although there are three approaches to this procedure including transnasal, transoral, and lateral, the most common method is the transnasal. The trasnasal approach consists of numbing the cheek before using a fluoroscopy to inject an anesthetic into the ganglion. Performed when a patient is lying down, the approximate length of this procedure is 15 to 30 minutes.

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