Interventional pain

Kaiser Permanente interventional pain specialists diagnose and help treat certain types of chronic pain. Working closely with your care team, we use procedures such as steroid injections and nerve blocks to:

  • Decrease your pain
  • Improve function
  • Help you participate fully in life
  • Reduce the effects of pain on your daily activities

Procedures we offer

Neuraxial procedures

  • Cervical epidural steroid injections
  • Cervical selective nerve root blocks
  • Thoracic epidural steroid injections
  • Thoracic selective nerve root blocks
  • Lumbar epidural steroid injections
  • Lumbar selective nerve root blocks
  • Caudal epidural steroid injections

Facet joint injections

  • Cervical facet joint steroid injections
  • Cervical medial branch blocks and radiofrequency ablations
  • Thoracic facet joint steroid injections
  • Thoracic medial branch blocks and radiofrequency ablations
  • Lumbar facet joint steroid injections
  • Lumbar medial branch blocks and radiofrequency ablations

Sympathetic nerve blocks

  • Stellate ganglion block
  • Celiac plexus block
  • Lumbar sympathetic block
  • Superior hypogastric plexus block
  • Ganglion impar block

Peripheral nerve blocks

  • Occipital nerve block
  • Supra and infraorbital nerve block
  • Intercostal nerve block
  • Superior cluneal nerve block
  • Pudendal nerve block
  • Lateral femoral cutaneous nerve block
  • Ilioinguinal, iliohypogastric, genitofemoral nerve block
  • Genicular nerve block and radiofrequency ablation
  • Anterior cutaneous nerve block
  • Transversus abdominis plane block

    • Spinal cord stimulator

    • Trial
    • Percutaneous lead implant

    Also offered

    • Piriformis injection
    • Trigger point injections
    • Sacroiliac joint steroid injection and radiofrequency ablation

    How to prepare

    Before your procedure, talk with your doctor to find out if you must temporarily stop taking any anticoagulation medications. If you have an active infection, poorly controlled diabetes, or if you are pregnant, please consult with your referring provider before coming to see us.

    Risks

    Our procedures are considered safe. However, any injections carry a small risk of complications.

    Rare risks may include:

    • Injury to blood vessels or hematoma (blood collection)
    • Allergic reaction
    • Nerve injury

    Very rare risks may include:

    • Bleeding
    • Seizure
    • Stroke
    • Total spinal anesthesia

    After your procedure

    You may be asked to bring a driver after your pain block and may have restrictions upon leaving our facility. For some procedures, our nursing team may ask you to fill out a pain diary. Please fill this out to the best of your ability as it informs our care team of how to form a plan of care moving forward.

    Contact us

    Call us at 1-800-854-5322 if you experience:

    • Weakness
    • Fevers, chills, or signs of infection
    • New onset positional headache
    • Unusual reactions that you think are related to the injection

    Call 911 or go to your nearest emergency department if you develop:

    • Shortness of breath
    • Severe coughing
    • Chest pain
    • Complete numbness below your neck or waist
    • Worsening swelling at your injection site