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The pros and cons of ultrasound-guided procedures in pain medicine

  • Jee Youn Moon (Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital)
  • Received : 2023.12.18
  • Accepted : 2024.05.19
  • Published : 2024.07.01

Abstract

The application of ultrasound (US) in pain medicine has been a rapidly growing field since the 2000s. Musculoskeletal injections, peripheral nerve blocks, and neuraxial injections under US guidance have been acknowledged for managing chronic pain. Although many studies on US-guided pain procedures have been published, there needs to be a classification system to evaluate which image device, the US or fluoroscopy, is clinically and technically better in various pain interventions. Therefore, this narrative review introduces the classification system for the US-guided pain procedures according to their clinical and technical outcomes and designates US-guided pain procedures into one of the four categories by reviewing previous prospective randomized comparative trials.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

The author feels nothing but gratitude for the staff members and colleagues at the Seoul National University Pain Management Center.

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