Pain Relief with a Peripheral Nerve Block
A peripheral nerve block can be used to treat pain coming from nerves that are outside of the brain and spinal cord.
At Nevada Pain Care, we offer peripheral nerve blocks that can help with pain in several areas of the body:
- Facial pain (supraorbital, infraorbital, supratrochlear, auriculotemporal, or trigeminal nerve block)
- Shoulder pain (suprascapular nerve block)
- Shoulder, arm, forearm, wrist and/or hand pain (brachial plexus block)
- Chest and/or abdominal pain (intercostal nerve block)
- Genital, perineal, and/or rectal pain (pudendal nerve block)
- Groin pain (ilioinguinal/iliohypogastric nerve block)
- Low back, buttock, and/or upper leg pain (cluneal nerve block)
- Upper leg pain (lateral femoral cutaneous nerve block)
- Knee, lower leg, and/or foot pain (saphenous nerve block)
- Knee pain due to osteoarthritis or failed knee surgery (genicular nerve blocks)
A peripheral nerve block involves the imaging-guided injection of medication very close to the nerves that are transmitting pain signals to the brain. The medication acts to stop the nerve from sending pain signals to the brain and reduces inflammation that may be present on or around the nerve.
The location of the injection will depend on which nerves are being treated. This procedure only takes a few minutes, and can be carried out at a surgery center. Because nerve blocks may wear off over time, your doctor may recommend a series of these procedures in order to provide long-term pain reduction.
If you receive good, but temporary knee pain relief from your saphenous or genicular nerve blocks, your doctor may recommend a radiofrequency ablation procedure on those nerves.