Pain Medicine

Welcome to Mediclinic City Hospital’s Interventional Pain Medicine Department.

Chronic pain is a complex issue, and we understand that it can be a burden on patients and their families. At the Department of Interventional Pain Medicine, our board-certified interventional pain physician and team of experts offer the latest cutting edge, minimally invasive interventional methods to treat patients with chronic pain, cancer-related and nerve pain.
Our goal is to reduce pain, and improve functional levels and quality of life, while eliminating the need for the addictive nature of pain medications.

What is Interventional Pain Medicine?

Interventional pain medicine is a specialised field focused on diagnosing and treating pain using minimally invasive techniques. Our team of experienced physicians combines cutting-edge technology with compassionate care to target the root cause of your pain, providing personalised treatment plans to suit your unique needs.

Our Approach

At Mediclinic City Hospital our priority is understanding your pain experience. Our approach begins with a comprehensive evaluation, where we delve into your medical history, perform detailed physical assessments, and utilise advanced diagnostic tools. This thorough understanding allows us to tailor a treatment plan that addresses your specific condition and goals.

Common Conditions:

Spine:

• Chronic back pain
• Chronic neck pain
• Cervical degenerative disc disease.
• Lumbar degenerative disc disease.
• Cervical radiculopathy
• Lumbar radiculopathy
• Disc bulge, herniation
• Cervical and lumbar facet pain syndrome
• Failed back surgery syndrome
• Pain after back/spine surgery
• Sciatica
• Spinal stenosis
• Vertebral compression fractures
• Osteoarthritis of the spine

Cancer and Visceral Pain:

• Cancer-related pain
• Chronic abdominal pain
• Chronic pelvic pain

Nerve Pain and Musculoskeletal Pain

• Chronic headache and trigeminal neuralgia
• Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS)
• Shingles pain and post herpetic neuralgia (PHN)
• Neuropathy including diabetic neuropathy
• Pain after peripheral nerve injuries
• Chronic shoulder pain
• Chronic hip pain and osteoarthritis
• Chronic knee pain and osteoarthritis
• Myofascial muscle pain

Interventional Pain Treatments:

• Non-Surgical treatment of Spine Pain
• Epidural Steroid Injections (ESIs): Often used to treat nerve pain, which radiates from the spine down and can cause sharp pains to shoot from the lower back into the legs, or from the neck into the shoulders and arms.
• Medial Branch Blocks (MBB): Used for the diagnosis and treatment of pain related to arthritis of the small joints of the spine, including the neck, mid and low back pain. If the patient experiences good pain relief from the procedure, they can be a candidate for radiofrequency ablation.
• Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA): A device is used to deliver an electrical current and heat to the small nerves of the spine and joints. It can provide long lasting pain relief to patients suffering from chronic neck and back pain as well as patients suffering from knee, hip and shoulder pain due to arthritis.
• Cooled Radiofrequency Ablation (COLIEF): A device that can help patients suffering from knee, hip and shoulder pain. This minimally invasive treatment targets nerves that transmit pain signals, and it’s the first and only radiofrequency treatment FDA-cleared for the relief of osteoarthritis knee pain.
• Endoscopic Spine procedure:  A minimally invasive spinal technique for treatment of slip disc, sciatica and spine joint pain. It is the most advanced and sophisticated technique to address spine problems without risk of open spine surgery. It has several advantages over conventional spine surgery for back and neck pain. With spine endoscopy any pain causing structure of spine can be addressed with more than 95% success rate. Spine endoscopy are associated with less muscle injury, preservation of bony structures, and rapid recovery.
• Kyphoplasty and Vertebroplasty: These procedures can be effective in treating people with vertebral compression fractures due to trauma, osteoporosis, or cancer. Kyphoplasty involves cement insertion inside the vertebral body together with creation of a cavity using a balloon, which allows the cement to be injected before being removed.
• Percutaneous LASER Disc Decompression (PLDD): A minimally invasive laser disc rejuvenation procedure to treat back pain, leg pain and neck pain caused by herniated discs compressing the nerve in the spine.
• Indirect Spine Fusion:  An interspinous -interlaminar fusion device. It is intended for the stabilisation of the thoracic, lumbar, and sacral spine. These devices provides immobilisation, stabilisation, and fusion of the spinal segments. The core threaded post allows for optimal placement and a wide range of sizes allows for enhanced anatomical fit. These procedures are ideal for lumbar spinal stenosis and can be used with or without graft.
• Sacroiliac Joint Fusion: A fusion procedure done to reduce the pain from sacroiliac joint after failure of conservative and injection treatment at the joint. Instruments are used to encourage bone growth over the sacroiliac joint and create one immobile unit, which effectively reduces pain and instability caused by sacroiliac joint dysfunction or inflammation (sacroiliitis).
• Differential Target Multiplexed (DTM) Spinal Cord Simulation (SCS): Offers patients the very latest interventional technique, with more than 80% reporting a notable reduction in chronic pain. The implanted DTM device targets neurons, as well as two types of cells involved the chronic pain pathway, to give exceptional pain relief results. DTM is especially effective in treating patients who are experiencing pain after surgery.
• Dorsal Root Ganglion Stimulation (DRG): A novel device designed for patients suffering from focal neuropathic pain related to complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). Similar to traditional spinal cord stimulation, DRG delivers electrical signals to the dorsal root ganglion, a bundle of nerves just outside the spinal cord.
• Intrathecal Pump (ITP): A device is implanted that delivers pain medication to the spinal fluid. It helps patients suffering from chronic pain related to cancer or patients with chronic pain where other treatments weren’t successful.
• Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy (PRP): A patient’s own platelets are injected to improve the function of tissues. The treatment is not widely available in the UAE, but can offer relief for patients following sports injuries, or for those affected by osteoarthritis of tendinitis.

Other pain management procedures we offer include:

• Joint and bursa injections for knee, shoulder, hip and other peripheral joints using ultrasound or X-ray guidance.
• Sacroiliac joint steroid injections for back/buttock pain related to sacroiliac joint (SIJ) dysfunction.
• Intercostal nerve blocks for chest wall pain.
• Superficial nerve blocks for headache such as occipital nerve blocks, sphenopalatine ganglion block and BOTOX injections for chronic migraine/dystonia and spasticity.
• Nerve blocks for shoulder pain including suprascapular, axillary nerve blocks. .
• Trigeminal nerve blocks for trigeminal neuralgia.
• Nerve blocks for abdominal pain including ilioinguinal, iliohypogastric, TAP, quadratus lumborum blocks, erector spinal blocks and celiac plexus injections.
• Nerve blocks to treat pelvic pain such as ganglion impar blocks, superior hypogastric blocks and pudendal nerve blocks.
• Sympathetic nerve blocks to treat complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS): lumbar sympathetic block, stellate ganglion block and impar ganglion neuromodulation.
• Discogram for diagnosis of lumbar discogenic pain.
• Trigger point injections for myofascial muscle pain.
• Prolotherapy using regenerative techniques with dextrose.

Patient-Centred Care

Your comfort and wellbeing are at the heart of everything we do. We strive to create a supportive environment where you feel empowered and informed about your treatment options. Our team is dedicated to guiding you through every step of your pain management journey, offering ongoing support and personalised care.

Why Choose Us?

• Expertise: Our team consists of highly skilled physicians specialising in interventional pain management.
• Advanced Techniques: We utilise state-of-the-art technology and innovative approaches to provide effective pain relief.
• Compassionate Care: Your concerns and needs are our top priority, and we're committed to delivering compassionate care at every visit.

Take the first step towards a pain-free life. Contact us on 800 1999 to schedule a consultation and discover how our interventional pain medicine services can help you reclaim your life.