conclusions there is clinical utility in knowing the relative deflection of various needle tips. when a procedure requires a needle to be steered around obstacles, or along non-collinear targets, the predictable and large amount of deflection obtained through use of a beveled spinal needle may prove beneficial. materials and methods six needles commonly used in spinal procedures (quincke, short...

There is a need for interventional pain management in the developing world; however, there are many barriers to the introduction of interventional pain therapies. This brief report describes one approach to the introduction of interventional pain medicine to a Nigerian teaching hospital. Although many barriers exist, interventional pain medicine can be brought to the developing world, as demons...

Phulchand Prithvi Raj Borundia (September 13, 1931 to February 27, 2016), fondly known as “Raj,” was a pioneer and world leader in regional anesthesia and interventional pain management (Fig. 1). Regional anesthesia and interventional pain management will forever be linked with the name of Dr. Raj. His death creates a major void in interventional pain management across the globe (1,2). He is th...

1. Review the background and rational use of interventional pain techniques. 2. Assess adequate patient selection, indications, and the evidence to support the use of surgical interventional therapies for neuropathic pain. 3. Identify pros and cons of diff erent surgical ablative and functional neurosurgical interventional therapies to help determine the proper choice of technique for the treat...

Interventional pain management now stands at the crossroads at what is described as "the perfect storm." The confluence of several factors has led to devastating results for interventional pain management. This article seeks to provide a perspective to various issues producing conditions conducive to creating a "perfect storm" such as use and abuse of interventional pain management techniques, ...

BACKGROUND Over the last decade various guidelines for quality assurance in pain medicine have been published for cancer pain, acute postoperative pain and other pain conditions. However, quality assurance for interventional pain management procedures has yet to be addressed. An interventional pain program should at least evaluate 1) efficacy of pain relief; 2) complication rate; and 3) patient...

Thoracic neuropathic pain is a debilitating condition that is often poorly responsive to oral and topical pharmacotherapy. The benefit of interventional nerve block procedures is unclear due to a paucity of evidence and the invasiveness of the described techniques. In this report, we describe a novel interfascial plane block, the erector spinae plane (ESP) block, and its successful application ...

It is widely accepted that the use of medical imaging continues to grow across the globe as does the concern for radiation safety. The danger of lens opacities and cataract formation related to radiation exposure is well documented in the medical literature. However, there continues to be controversy regarding actual dose thresholds of radiation exposure and whether these thresholds are still r...