What Is Interventional Pain Management? A Comprehensive Guide
Wednesday, December 15, 2021
What is Interventional Pain Management?
Interventional pain management is used when there's severe pain. According to the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP), it is a discipline of medicine devoted to diagnosing and treating pain-related disorders mainly with the application of interventional techniques in managing chronic, persistent pain, independently or in conjunction with other forms of treatment.
Interventional pain management helps reduce and manage pain while also improving a patient's overall quality of life using minimally invasive techniques designed to diagnose and treat chronic conditions. It also strives to help patients return to their daily lives with little to no reliance on medications.
Who is an Interventional Pain Management doctor?
An interventional Pain Management doctor is a physician who has special training in evaluating, diagnosing, and treating different types of pain, including:
- Having in-depth knowledge of the physiology of pain.
- Having an understanding of the various specialized tests used in diagnosing painful conditions.
- The ability to prescribe medications to varying pain problems.
- Possessing enough skill to perform procedures (such as Epidural Injections, Facet Block Injections, Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy, and other interventional techniques).
What can interventional pain management doctors do?
Interventional pain management doctors are trained to figure out the cause of your pain. They refer you for the best treatment options after determining the likely pain generators.
Interventional pain management emphasizes the importance of a precise diagnosis to ensure that treatment begins immediately. Rather than simply prescribing medication or only recommending physical thera[y, an interventional pain management doctor completely utilizes all treatment options to eliminate pain in the fastest and most effective way possible.
Interventional pain management doctors play an essential role in coordinating additional care such as psychological therapy, physical therapy, and rehabilitation programs to offer patients a comprehensive treatment plan with a multidisciplinary approach to treating their pain.
Best Interventional Pain Management Doctors
1. Dr. Bharat Patel
Dr. Bharat C. Patel’s credentials include board certifications in sports medicine, physiatry, pain medicine, electrodiagnostic medicine, and interventional pain management. Fewer than one in 10,000 physicians nationwide are quintuple board certified. The highly respected Becker's Orthopedic, Spine, and Pain Management Review included Dr. Patel on their published list: The Best Pain Management Physicians in America. Becker's has also named Dr. Patel to their exclusive list of the "12 Great Physicians in Florida."
In 2014, Dr. Patel was chosen by the Chairman and CEO of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians to serve as an examiner for the national American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians examinations. Dr. Patel scored the highest of all physicians in the country when he completed the examination.
Dr. Patel performs both non-interventional and interventional spine pain management therapies. He treats arthritis of the spine and facet joint pain with injections for pain.
2. Dr. Ara Deukmedjian
About the surgeon:
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian, also known as Dr. Deuk to his patients and colleagues, is a renowned neuro-spine surgeon and a true pioneer in minimally invasive, laser, and endoscopic back, neck, and thoracic pain treatment. Dr. Ara Deukmedjian, who grew up in Southern California, now practices at the Deuk Spine Institute in Florida.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian developed his laser procedure called Deuk Laser Disc Repair. Deuk Laser Disk Repair is the most advanced laser spine surgery in the world. This revolutionary procedure is an alternative to dangerous invasive surgeries like total disc replacement or spinal fusion.
Deuk Laser Disc Repair has had a 95% success rate with no complications in any patient, which is higher than any other surgery available today.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian is a member of the; Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS), American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), Surgery Department Chair, Parrish Medical Center, and Brevard County Medical Society (President, Board of Governors). He has also been awarded the ‘Patients Choice Award’ for consecutive years.
3. Dr. Andrew H. Morchower
Dr. Andrew H. Morchower is a fellowship-trained interventional spine and pain management specialist who is board-certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and hails from Dallas, Texas.
Dr. Morchower completed his interventional spine and pain fellowship at Pennsylvania Orthopaedic and Spine Specialists, finished his residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center before beginning his fellowship.
He graduated from Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans with a medical degree and a master's degree in public health. He has lectured on themes relating to pain management both nationally and internationally, and he continues to keep up with the most up-to-date techniques to pain management.
4. Dr. Maulik Bhalani
Dr. Maulik Bhalani is board-certified by The American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the American Board of Medical Specialties with specialties in interventional pain medicine, physical medicine, and rehabilitation.
He received his medical degree from Creighton University in Omaha, then went on to the University of South Florida to finish a residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation and a fellowship in interventional pain medicine.
Dr. Bhalani is a member of several professional and regional societies dedicated to pain medicine, physical medicine, and rehabilitation, and he currently works as a clinical associate professor and faculty member for the University of South Florida's pain medicine fellowship and Department of Neurology.
Get Relief for Your Chronic Pain with Interventional Pain Management
Interventional pain management provides relief for chronic pain. Interventional pain management uses various treatment techniques to directly address the source of your chronic pain.
Conditions treated by interventional pain management techniques commonly include back pain and neck pain.
Back Pain and Interventional Pain Management Treatments
If you’re suffering from chronic back, and neck pain, interventional pain management doctors have a wide array of treatment options that can be used.
These treatments include:
Epidural Injections:
Epidural steroid injections are used in the treatment of low back, neck, and leg pain. It may be used alone or in combination with other pain management measures. In some instances, epidural injections have proven to be an effective pain management tool for those with sciatica, a disease that causes numbness, weakness, and tingling to travel down the lower back and into the legs.
Facet Block Injections
Many pain management techniques involve the application of a nerve block injection. Nerve blocks serve to block the transmission of pain signals from the spine. Depending on each individual's particular circumstances, nerve blocks may be applied by injecting alcohol or phenol or, in some cases, through freezing techniques or the creation of heat lesions.
PRP Therapy
Platelet-rich plasma therapy is a method of concentrating platelets from the patient’s blood. This concentrate contains healing cells such as stem cell signaling markers, growth factors, and white blood cells. PRP therapy stimulates the healing process, promoting increased tissue strength, reducing pain, and improving overall function.
Rhizotomy/RFA
A radiofrequency rhizotomy injection (RFA) procedure uses radiofrequency heat to deaden nerves that transmit pain signals from the spine.
Rhizotomy injection can also be used to manage pain effectively when the pain is due to osteoarthritis of the spine's facet joints. Various other facet block procedures can also block the transmission of pain signals from the facet joint.
Synvisc Injections
Synvisc Injection is a formulation containing hyaluronan that is typically injected into the knee joints to temporarily relieve pain caused by osteoarthritis.
Patients need to find reliable and capable clinics that are highly trained in finding the perfect treatment option to treat a wide variety of pain sources. If you suffer from chronic pain, Synvisc injection can help.
BMAC (Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate) Therapy
BMAC therapy is a stem cell-based therapy because bone marrow houses stem cells, forming new bone, cartilage, and muscle cells. A special needle is used to gather the bone marrow. This needle can collect a high concentration of stem cells from a patient's marrow. The newly concentrated stem cells are then injected into the problematic area to stimulate cell regeneration.
Best Surgical Alternative For Back Pain Treatment
If you’re opting for interventional pain management because you’re scared or terrified of traditional surgeries, such as spinal fusion and artificial disc replacement, you should consider minimally invasive laser spine surgery.
The most advanced laser spine surgery in the world for back and neck pain is Deuk Laser Disc Repair.
Deuk Laser Disc Repair
What it is?
Deuk Laser Disc Repair is the most advanced laser spine surgery in the world. It is used as an alternative to dangerous invasive surgeries like total disc replacement and spinal fusion.
This revolutionary procedure was developed by Dr. Ara Deukmedjian, a renowned neuro-spine surgeon and a true pioneer in minimally invasive, laser, and endoscopic back and neck pain treatment.
Deuk Laser Disc Repair is a form of endoscopic spine surgery performed in a state-of-the-art outpatient surgery center under sedation while the patient relaxes. This procedure does not compromise or weaken the health and integrity of the spine.
In over 15 years of performing this procedure and with over 1,300 patients treated, there has been a 95% success rate with no complications in any patient.
How it works?
Deuk Laser Disc Repair | How to Cure Lower Back Pain | Surgery For Lumbar Herniated Disc
To get started, Deuk Laser Disc Repair requires a very small incision, less than a quarter inch long. A cylindrical rod called a dilator is inserted in the small opening to gently spread the muscle to create a small passage and guide through which the surgery is performed endoscopically. The tip of the dilator is advanced into the symptomatic disc through the tear in the annulus where the herniation originates, and a tube called the retractor slides over the dilator and is carefully positioned into the painful disc. The rest of the entire Deuk laser disc repair surgery will occur inside this narrow tube.
To access the spine, an endoscopic camera is inserted into the tubular retractor to allow the surgeon to guide the laser inside each symptomatic disc. This process ensures that bones and surrounding tissues are not damaged, unlike traditional spinal fusions, microdiscectomy, and artificial discs.
The Holmium YAG laser used in the Deuk laser disc repair is manipulated accurately with millimeter precision under endoscopic visualization to remove only painful inflammatory tissue from the disc. The laser is precisely used to remove damaged disc material that is causing the pain.
Once the laser has removed the inflamed painful part of the annular tear and the herniated nucleus pulposus, the endoscope and tubular retractor are removed, leaving less than one-quarter inch incision in the skin, which can be closed with a single stitch and a band-aid.
The total time for the Deuk laser disc repair surgery is one hour, and the patient is in recovery for about 45 to 60 minutes before being released to go home. Hospitalization is not needed and the risks of hospital-based surgery are avoided.
Also, with the Deuk laser disc repair, there’s no loss of normal movement, and the flexibility of the disc and joint is preserved. With endoscopic Deuk laser disc repair there is no fusion, metal implants or biological material added to the spine. The procedure is all-natural allowing your body to heal the herniated or bulging disc itself.
What comes after?
After the surgery, the Deuk laser disc repair patient is back home, enjoying life with a speedy recovery allowing normal activities without pain. Another advantage of Deuk laser disc repair is that no opioids or powerful narcotic painkillers are needed after surgery. Open spine surgeries like microdiscectomy, laminectomy, artificial disc replacement and fusion all cause so much internal trauma that patients are in severe pain after surgery and must take painkillers for weeks after their surgery but not with Deuk laser disc repair.
If you have a herniated or bulging disc or chronic back or neck pain, submit your MRI for a free review.
Curing Chronic Pain
While we treat a variety of spinal conditions, we ultimately treat chronic pain. We understand that becoming pain-free can feel like being reborn. At Deuk Spine Institute, we use world-class interventional pain management techniques, therapy, and groundbreaking surgeries such as Deuk Laser Disc Repair to free our patients from chronic pain.
For more information about Deuk Spine Institute and to begin your path towards living a pain-free life → click here to visit our website or submit your MRI for a free review.
