Definition: Compression fractures of the spine secondary to osteoporosis can be extremely painful and debilitating. These often require several months, or occasionally up to a year, to fully heal.
Treatment: A kyphoplasty or vertebroplasty may be useful when pain is unable to be managed with reasonable conservative management. The procedure is performed through 1 or 2 needles which are placed into the fracture site. The fracture is then stabilized by injecting a medical grade liquid compound through the needles directly into the fractured vertebra which then hardens providing a type of internal cast which can provide immediate relief. This is an outpatient procedure which takes less than an hour to perform and does not require a stay in the hospital.
Treatment: Severe knee pain due to arthritis can often be treated with conservative management or joint injections. If these measures are ineffective but you are not quite ready for a knee replacement, you may consider a geniculate nerve ablation or geniculate artery embolization. These newer minimally invasive outpatient procedures have been shown to provide significant relief. These have also been shown to be effective in patients with persistent knee pain after replacement.
Definition: Adhesive capsulitis, otherwise known as frozen shoulder, is a condition causing severe shoulder pain and decreased mobility. Symptoms may take several years to fully resolve.
Treatment: Newer research shows promising results with arterial embolization of the shoulder which decreases symptoms and overall length of recovery. This is an outpatient procedure performed through a small catheter in the artery.
Definition: Severe chronic low back pain can often be difficult to successfully diagnose and treat. Back pain may be multifactorial and be related to the discs, nerves, and small joints in the back. There may be related leg pain or numbness/tingling.
Treatment: Our experts are skilled at diagnosis and nonoperative treatment of low back pain. The most commonly performed procedures are epidural steroid injections, nerve root blocks, and rhizotomy (RF ablation of medial nerve branch blocks).
