Don't let your pain manage you. Let us help you manage your pain.
- Dr. Wolfe
Procedures
Spine Injections
We perform a variety of spine injections. Some of these always require X-ray guidance; some do not. Injections in the spinal canal rarely include anesthetic. Injections that do not enter the spinal canal may include local anesthetic. Most spine injections include a corticosteroid, typically Depomedrol. In all cases, the skin receives local anesthetic where needed.
Spine injections or spine procedures we perform include:
• epidural lysis of adhesions
• lumbar paravertebral sympathetic chain blocks,
• celiac plexus blocks
• hypogastric plexus blocks
• radiofrequency facet rhizotomy / medial branch ablation
• provocative diskography
• vertebroplasty
Nerve Blocks
We perform a variety of nerve blocks. Some of these blocks may require X-ray guidance, most do not. They almost always involve the use of a combination of a local anesthetic and a corticosteroid. Nerve blocks rarely require sedation.
Nerve blocks that we perform include:
• trigeminal nerve
• supracapular nerve
• ulnar nerve
• median nerve
• intercostal nerve
• ilioinguinal nerve
• sciatic nerve
• femoral nerve
• saphenous nerve
• and several others.
Joint Injections
We inject almost any joint we can easily access. Typical medications injected include a mixture of a local anesthetic and a corticosteroid. We do not use cortisone. We do use Depomedrol or Kenalog; both are commonly used for joint injections. We use either lidocaine or bupivicaine for the local anesthetic. For knees, we also use Synvisc-One where appropriate.
Joints we inject include shoulders, elbows, wrists, fingers, sacroiliac joints, hips, knees, ankles and toes.
Bursa Injections
We inject almost any bursa we can easily access. Typical medications injected include a mixture of a local anesthetic and a corticosteroid. We do not use cortisone. We do use Depomedrol or Kenalog; both are commonly used for joint injections. We use either lidocaine or bupivicaine for the local anesthetic.
Bursae we inject include shoulders, elbows, ischial bursae, hips, knees and ankles.
Spine Implants
We perform spine implants on an outpatient basis under local anesthesia or general anesthesia as appropriate. These include placement of spinal cord stimulators and morphine pumps. These are performed on an outpatient basis or on a 24 hour stay. These procedures require intravenous antibiotics. Stitches will be placed that must be removed at a later date. Office visits will be required for wound checks until the incisions are adequately healed.
Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery
We perform minimally invasive spine surgery for patients who are not candidates for traditional open surgical spine surgery with an orthopaedic spine surgeon or a neurosurgeon. We perform percutaneous lumbar disk decompression on an outpatient basis under local anesthesia and sedation. These procedures require intravenous antibiotics. Patients walk out with an adhesive bandage.
