TREATMENTS & PROCEDURES
Sympathetic Nerve Block
Produce pain relief with lumbar sympathetic block treatments
A lumbar sympathetic nerve block involves injecting an anesthetic agent onto the sympathetic ganglion, which is located along the lumbar spine. This block interrupts signals form the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) to produce pain relief.
Can my pain be controlled without injections or pain medicine?
Yes, there are many options depending on if it’s musculoskeletal or nerve pain.
If I need an injection, is it dangerous?
There are risks of inserting a needle into the body. These include bleeding, infection and lack of benefit. These risks are minimal and the vast majority of patients see enormous benefits because we select the treatment modality carefully. The benefits of performing pain intervention are carefully calculated and discussed against risks before we proceed with any treatment
What do you inject?
There are different medications/compounds that may be offered. The goal is to reduce or eliminate pain and improve function. The medication and compounds may include steroids, platelet rich plasma(PRP), A2M(alpha 2 macro globulin ), Stem cells.
How long will the benefits of an injection last?
It’s not possible to accurately predict the level and duration of benefit. Many of our patients have improvement or elimination of their pain with a single injection. We reevaluate every patient after each intervention. All decisions on further treatment are discussed as a team.
When it comes to medication mgt, do you provide medication management?
Dr. Graf uses many medications for pain. Many of these medications are habit forming and require careful monitoring . When appropriate patients will receive opioid medications under Dr. Graf’s supervision. Dr. Graf is recognized for his expertise as an addiction management physician in assisting patients in withdrawing from habit forming medications."