Providing comprehensive & compassionate care
for treating acute, chronic and back pain...As part of Southeastern Spine Center & Research Institute’s commitment to be a comprehensive center of excellence, we offer conservative & interventional pain management. Pain Medicine services provide medical management of pain with diagnostic evaluations, disability evaluations, (EMG) and other procedures. Conservative management may include a single approach or combination of medications, therapies, TENS (electrical nerve stimulation), and relaxation techniques. Interventional pain management utilizes minimally invasive techniques to diagnose and treat pain, such as spinal injections, IDET, Vertebroplasty, Radiofrequency Abalation, and implantable stimulators.
We treat acute, chronic and Back related pain:
Southeastern Spine Center offers an on-site fluoroscopy procedure suite for the added value of convenience for our patients. In offering this suite, in addition to utilizing different centers for interventional procedures, we can meet your needs and those dictated by insurances.
Diagnostic Injections
There are diagnostic injections that are utilized to determine just where your pain is generating from.
EMG (Electromyogram)
An electromyogram (EMG) measures the electrical impulses of muscles at rest and during contraction. Nerve conduction studies, which measure nerve conduction velocity, determine how well individual nerves can transmit electrical signals. Nerve and muscle disorders cause the muscles to react in abnormal ways.
These tests are done to diagnose diseases that damage muscle tissue, nerves, or the junctions between nerve and muscle, and to evaluate the cause of weakness, paralysis, involuntary muscle twitching, or other symptoms. Problems in a muscle, the nerves supplying a muscle, the spinal cord or the area of the brain that controls a muscle can all cause these kinds of symptoms.
Disability Evaluations
Worker’s Compensation generally will mandate for their injuried workers an evaluation of disability. The physicians at Southeastern Spine utilize their expertise in the accurate and comprehensive assessment in completing this process.
Discography
This testing procedure is used to determine whether a disc is the reason for pain. An injection is given with x-ray following to visualize any tears, scarring, or bulges of the disc. This procedure is done as an outpatient test. The testing is done with the patient lying on their stomach for lumbar area or on their back, if it is the cervical area being tested.
Medications
Medications are often utilized in the medical management of pain and other symptoms a patient may be experiencing. Medication may be the primary source of treatment or in conjunction with another therapy. There are a variety of types of medications available for the specialist to use that would correlate with the patient's specific diagnosis and treatment plan. They include, but are not exclusive to:
1. Anti-inflammatory Drugs – Most commonly used are the aspirin-like that reduce swelling and irritation and can also relieve pain. 2. Antidepressants – Studies have shown that these medications can help to alleviate pain in certain circumstances and conditions.
3. Anti-Seizure – These medications will reduce abnormal electrical conduction in damaged nerves that can relieve pain.
4. Opioid (Narcotic) Analgesics – These medications are utilized very carefully in specific patients to help control the severity of pain.
5. Muscle Relaxants and Sedatives – These may also be used to help with sleep.
INTERVENTIONAL PAIN TREATMENT OPTIONS
Injections
There are many conditions that require injections around the nerves or into the joints with medication to obtain relief of pain, whether it is a local anesthetics or a steroid medication utilized.
The epidural space is an area that is around the spinal fluid sac and typically contains only blood vessels and fat. This injection procedure is done on an "outpatient" basis with the whole procedure usually lasting less than 15 minutes. Typically, the injection is done under X-Ray guidance with the patient in the prone (face down) position.
The facet joints are small joints at the back of the spine that support and aid in rotation and bending of the spine. The facet joints give the spine its flexibility. Sometimes these joints can become inflamed from either trauma or arthritis. Injection of a facet joint is is always done under x-ray (fluoroscopy) to correctly place the needle into the small joint space. Usually, a small amount of x-ray contrast (dye) is used to further confirm the correct position of the needle prior to the injection of the medication.
Blocks are injections of medication onto or near nerves. The medications that are injected include local anesthetics, steroids and opioids. If a steroid is injected along with a local anesthetic, this can reduce pain in the nerve if the pain is caused by inflammation or irritation of the nerve. Blocks are used to control acute pain, reduce nerve and joint inflammation and often as a diagnostic tool to determine the source of the pain.
Radio Frequency Ablation
This is a procedure that sends radio waves through a needle to small sensory nerve endings to interrupt the pain signals. This procedure is often done for patients who have arthritis of the cervical or lumbar spine. Typically these patients have symptoms of muscle spasms and stiffness. Patients can have relief of pain for two years or more with this procedure and can be repeated for future needs. This is an outpatient procedure with the patient lying on their stomach.
IDET (Intradiscal Electrothermal Therapy)
A minimally invasive treatment for chronic back pain. Intradiscal Electrothermal is a procedure in which a catheter is inserted percutaneously into disc. The procedure uses accurate control of temperature to cauterize the nerve ending in the disc wall to block pain signals. This treatment option is usually utilized for chronic back pain caused by small herniations of the lumbar discs.
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