Ultrasound-guided interventional procedures in pain medicine: a review of anatomy, sonoanatomy, and procedures. Part II: axial structures.

Abstract

There is a growing trend in using ultrasonography in pain medicine as evident by the plethora of published reports. Ultrasound(US) provides direct visualization of various soft tissues and real-time needle advancement and avoids exposing both the health care provider and the patient to the risks of radiation. The US machine is more affordable and transferrable than fluoroscopy, computed tomography scan,or magnetic resonance imaging machine. In a previous review, we discussed the challenges and limitations of US, anatomy, sonoanatomy, and techniques of interventional procedures of peripheral structures. In the present review, we discuss the anatomy, sonoanatomy, and US-guided techniques of interventional pain procedures for axial structures and review the pertinent literature.