MSK Services

Interventional Pain Management

Joint pain really slows you down. Whether it’s your neck, back, shoulder or knee, we can help you be pain free.  Casper Medical Imaging & Outpatient Radiology provides Musculoskeletal (MSK) services to identify, prevent, and treat conditions of the musculoskeletal system. Our fellowship trained and board-certified musculoskeletal radiologists use imaging guidance to precisely locate bones, muscles, nerves, and tendons and deliver treatments directly. Successful treatment can sometimes avoid the need for open surgery and long recoveries. Our specialized radiologists have years of experience providing diagnostic and therapeutic steroid injections to muscles, peripheral joints, tendons, bursa and other locations to successfully diagnose and treat your source of pain. Our goal is simple: keep patients active and pain-free because movement is freedom.
Male doctor showing knee joint model to woman patient and explains the cause of his pain

What to Expect

From the moment you arrive at Casper Medical Imaging & Outpatient Radiology, we aim to make your experience as pleasant as possible. After check in, our technologists will escort you to the procedure room to discuss the procedure you’re receiving and answer any questions you have. Once we are ready to begin the procedure, we will position you on the procedure table. We will clean and prep the area of skin using sterile technique and numb the skin with local anesthetic. Then utilizing imaging guidance with either ultrasound, fluoroscopy (X-ray), or computed tomography (CT) we will numb the deeper soft tissues with a combination of anesthetic medication. Following removal of the needle we will place a small bandage over the area. 

As always, be sure to follow preparation instructions provided by your physician. They’ll also discuss and provide any post-opp instructions.

Female Doctor reviewing ultrasound

FAQ

An image guided procedure allows the radiologist to accurately and safely watch the needle position real-time. Image guidance also allows the radiologist to see the critical nearby anatomic structures allowing for a more successful and safer biopsy.

You may feel some pressure in the joint or soft tissues from the anesthetic medication and injected contrast material. Shortly following the procedure, you may experience some pain and swelling around the injection site. The effects of the anesthetic can last up to a few hours depending on whether the joint/area injected is the main source of your pain. You may feel numb or experience mild weakness in the limb for a few hours after the injection. If you experience discomfort over the first few days after injection, apply an ice pack to the area. We recommend over the counter Tylenol (acetaminophen) if any pain medication is needed.

Depending on the source of your pain you may experience immediate relief from the aspiration. The addition of a corticosteroid can sometimes help with pain and the reaccumulating of fluid.

The skin is cleansed and local anesthetic medication is injected. The discomfort of this injection is short, 30-60 seconds, and then the area is numb.

A small skin incision is then made through which the biopsy needle is placed. Several small sample cores of tissue from the mass or area of interest will then retrieved. Following removal of the needle we will place a small bandage over the incision area. We will keep you for a short period of observation to make sure you are ready to head home after the procedure.

The risks associated with injections and aspirations are very small. Since the treatment is localized to the area of pain most patients experience no significant or lasting complications. The risks associated with soft tissue biopsies are also small. These include damage to adjacent structures, bleeding, infection, and allergic reaction.

Most injections and minimally invasive pain procedures will require around 30 minutes to complete safely.