Chronic pelvic pain is a common problem for female patients and tends to be present for six month or more. Pelvic pain is a common symptom when diagnosing for Pelvic Venous Insufficiency, also known as Pelvic Congestion Syndrome. The etiology of pelvic varicosities is a reflux of blood in the ovarian veins due to valves not functioning properly. Non-invasive imaging such as ultrasound, CT, and magnetic resonance venography play an important role in the diagnosis and helps provide a road map for minimally invasive treatment options, which are foremost beneficial to the patient. Treatment options include venography with possible coil, plug, or foam occlusion of contributory veins.
Conditions and how they're treated
- Condition Treated: Chronic lower back pain, vertebrogenic lower back pain, Modic changes
- Reason for Procedure: Vertebrogenic lower back pain is pain originating from the bones in your spine. This is caused by bone inflammation that occurs as the result of degenerative disc disease. The diagnosis of vertebrogenic back pain is made using history, physical examination and imaging. An MRI identifies specific degenerative changes, known as Modic changes. Basivertebral nerve ablation is a minimally invasive procedure that can provide long lasting pain relief to patients with vertebrogenic back pain and Modic changes.
- How It’s Performed: An Interventional Radiologist identifies the affected vertebral bones using X-ray guidance. A small needle is advanced into the bone, and a radiofrequency probe is used to burn the nerve permanently.
- Anesthesia: General anesthesia, Conscious Sedation
- Recovery Time: 2 hours
- For more information and to schedule a consultation with one of our IR physicians, please call 631-403-7088
- Conditions Treated: Pain secondary to peripheral nerve dysfunction
- Reason for Procedure: Patients can have chronic pain secondary to injury, cancer, or sometimes after surgery.
- How It’s Performed: An Interventional Radiologist determines the cause of the pain based on history and physical examination. A block of the nerve may be performed to temporarily numb the nerve to see if pain relief is achieved. If pain relief is achieved, cryoneurolysis can be performed by placing small needles near the affected nerve. These needles freeze at very low temperatures, which causes nerve injury, thereby reducing pain signalizing.
- Anesthesia: Conscious Sedation
- Recovery Time: 1-2 hours
- For more information and to schedule a consultation with one of our IR physicians, please call 631-403-7088
- Conditions Treated: Degenerative disc disease causing chronic lower back pain
- Reason for Procedure: Chronic lower back pain has many causes, including degenerative disc disease. This procedure can be used to diagnose and treat disc disease.
- How It’s Performed: An Interventional Radiologist will review or order imaging of your back, frequently an MRI. If the disc is suspected to be the cause of the pain, a small needle can be placed into the disc under X-Ray or CT scan guidance. An anesthetic discogram is performed by injecting contrast and local anesthetic into the disc. The disc can be further treated by injecting gel substances or grafts to rehydrate the disc, reducing disc-related back pain.
- Anesthesia: Conscious Sedation
- Recovery Time: 1-2 hours
- For more information and to schedule a consultation with one of our IR physicians, please call 631-403-7088
- Conditions Treated: lower back pain, herniated disc, degenerative disc disease, sciatica, radiculopathy, nerve pain
- Reason for Procedure: To treat back and leg pain due to herniated discs and inflammation of spinal nerves
- How It’s Performed: An Interventional Radiologist will place a very small needle in the epidural space near the inflamed nerve using either CT scan or X-ray guidance. Once positioning is confirmed, a small amount of steroid and anesthetic will be injected to provide pain relief. These injections can be repeated several times per year if needed.
- Anesthesia: Local Anesthesia, Conscious Sedation
- Recovery Time: 1-2 hours.
- For more information and to schedule a consultation with one of our IR physicians, please call 631-403-7088
- Conditions Treated: Coccydynia, tailbone pain
- Reason for Procedure: To provide pain relief from chronic tail bone pain, which may be due to previous fracture or surgery
- How It’s Performed: An Interventional Radiologist will place a small needle next to the tailbone and the nerve of interest under CT scan guidance. Steroids and anesthetic will be injected to provide pain relief. If symptoms return, additional procedures can be performed to damage the nerve by freezing it or by injecting chemicals to damage the nerve and stop pain signaling.
- Anesthesia: Local Anesthesia, Conscious Sedation
- Recovery Time: 1-2 hours
- For more information and to schedule a consultation with one of our IR physicians, please call 631-403-7088
- Conditions Treated: Chronic knee pain, knee osteoarthritis, hemarthrosis
- Reason for Procedure: To reduce chronic knee pain due to osteoarthritis or bleeding into the knee joint in patients who are not surgical candidates or who defer knee surgery.
- How It’s Performed: An Interventional Radiologist will access a small artery usually in your leg. Contrast dye is injected under X-ray guidance to map the arteries of the knee. Small catheters will be advanced into the knee arteries of interest. Microscopic particles or other substances will be injected into the arteries to reduce inflammation or stop bleeding, thereby reducing knee pain.
- Anesthesia: Conscious Sedation
- Recovery Time: 1-2 hours
- For more information and to schedule a consultation with one of our IR physicians, please call 631-403-7088
- Conditions Treated: Chronic knee pain, knee osteoarthritis
- Reason for Procedure: To reduce chronic knee pain due to osteoarthritis.
- How It’s Performed: An Interventional Radiologist will advance small needles toward the nerves of the knee joint capsule. Anesthetic will be injected to block these nerves that transmit pain signals to the brain. If the nerves are deemed to be the cause of knee pain, ablation needles can be used to burn these nerves, to provide longer lasting knee pain relief.
- Anesthesia: Conscious Sedation
- Recovery Time: 1-2 hours
- For more information and to schedule a consultation with one of our IR physicians, please call 631-403-7088
- Conditions Treated: Chronic back pain, facet arthropathy, facet arthritis
- Reason for Procedure: There are many causes of back pain. Once source of back pain is arthritis in your facet joints. Pain signals from your facet joints are transmitted by your medial branch nerves. These nerves can be temporarily anesthetized to diagnose facet mediated back pain and can be treated by burning these nerves, to provide longer lasting back pain relief.
- How It’s Performed: An Interventional Radiologist will advance a small needle to the location of the medial branch nerve using CT or X-ray guidance. A small volume of anesthetic is injected as a nerve block. If pain relief is achieved, radiofrequency ablation can be performed, where the nerves are burned to provide longer lasting pain relief.
- Anesthesia: Local Anesthesia, Conscious Sedation
- Recovery Time: 1 hour
- For more information and to schedule a consultation with one of our IR physicians, please call 631-403-7088
- Conditions Treated: Hip pain, osteoarthritis
- Reason for Procedure: To provide hip pain relief in patients who are not a surgical candidate or who defer surgery.
- How It’s Performed: An Interventional Radiologist will place small needles in the location of the obturator and femoral nerve under X-ray guidance. Signaling from these nerves can be temporarily blocked using local anesthetic. If pain relief is achieved, radiofrequency ablation of these nerves can be performed, thereby providing longer lasting pain relief.
- Anesthesia: Conscious Sedation
- Recovery Time: 1 hour
- For more information and to schedule a consultation with one of our IR physicians, please call 631-403-7088
- Conditions Treated: Pelvic venous disease, pelvic venous insufficiency, pelvic congestion syndrome, pelvic varices, gonadal vein reflux
- Reason for Procedure: Varicose veins can develop in your abdomen and pelvis for various reasons, including hormone changes during pregnancy, genetic or anatomic variation, as well as other medical conditions and lifestyle factors. These distended veins may not drain properly, leading to chronic achy and crampy pelvic pain, pain with sexual intercourse, and pain with prolonged standing. Pelvic venography is the gold standard method used to diagnose abnormal pelvic veins. Embolization can be performed to block these veins, providing long lasting symptomatic relief.
- How It’s Performed: An Interventional Radiologist will access a vein in your neck, arm, or leg. A small catheter will be advanced into your pelvic veins, and contrast dye will be injected to study the veins. If abnormal veins are discovered, blood flow in these veins can be blocked by placing metal coils and plugs, as well as other medications.
- Anesthesia: Conscious Sedation
- Recovery Time: 1-2 hours
- For more information and to schedule a consultation with one of our IR physicians, please call 631-403-7088
- Conditions Treated: Sacral insufficiency fracture
- Reason for Procedure: To stabilize sacral fractures, speed up healing time, provide pain relief, and allow patients to return to their normal activities.
- How It’s Performed: An Interventional Radiologist will place small needles into your sacrum using CT scan or X-ray guidance. Bone cement will then be injected to stabilize the fracture and provide pain relief.
- Anesthesia: Conscious Sedation, General Anesthesia
- Recovery Time: 2 hours
- For more information and to schedule a consultation with one of our IR physicians, please call 631-403-7088
- Conditions Treated: Sacroiliac joint pain, sacroiliitis, sacroiliac joint dysfunction
- Reason for Procedure: To diagnose and treat sacroiliac (SI) joint pain
- How It’s Performed: An Interventional Radiologist will place a small needle into your SI joint using CT scan or X-ray guidance. A small amount of anesthetic and steroid will be injected into your joint, which will help diagnose SI joint pain and provide pain relief.
- Anesthesia: Local Anesthesia
- Recovery Time: 30 minutes
- For more information and to schedule a consultation with one of our IR physicians, please call 631-403-7088
- Conditions Treated: Sacroiliac joint pain, sacroiliac joint dysfunction, sacroiliac joint instability or hypermobility
- Reason for Procedure: To stabilize the sacroiliac joint and provide pain relief
- How It’s Performed: An Interventional Radiologist will make a small incision on the side of your upper thigh. Under X-ray guidance, small screws will be placed across your sacroiliac joint to fuse the joint, providing long lasting pain relief.
- Anesthesia: General Anesthesia
- Recovery Time: 1-2 hours
- For more information and to schedule a consultation with one of our IR physicians, please call 631-403-7088
- Conditions Treated: Trigger point, myofascial pain syndrome, muscle knot, fibromyalgia
- Reason for Procedure: To relieve muscle pain secondary to trigger point tenderness.
- How It’s Performed: An Interventional Radiologist will identify one or more myofascial trigger points. A small needle will be placed into each trigger point, and local anesthetic will be injected to relieve focal pain.
- Anesthesia: Local Anesthesia
- Recovery Time: 15-30 minutes
- For more information and to schedule a consultation with one of our IR physicians, please call 631-403-7088
