Post-Surgical Pain
There are numerous surgical procedures performed currently, even though highly successful, can be associated with post surgical pain syndromes. Most resolved with time and minimal interventions. However, although less frequent, some patients develop incapacitating and intractable pain, refractory to conservative treatment. Some of the post-surgical pain syndromes occur after inguinal hernia repairs, lung surgery, open-heart surgery, breast surgery and orthopedic surgery. Usually they can be treated with topical or transdermal anesthetics, local steroid injections, nerve blocks and medications such as anti-epileptic drugs. Occasionally, more advance pain interventions such as radiofrequency neurolysis, peripheral and spinal cord stimulation, and on rare occasions, surgical interventions.