As one of patients’ most common complaints, pain in the back or neck can severely limit the daily activities of life without treatment. A new spine injection suite at Duke Orthopaedics of Apex brings effective care for back pain with or without leg symptoms or neck pain with or without arm symptoms closer to patients with a location convenient to Wake, Durham, and Chatham Counties.

“If a patient has failed to respond to conservative treatments such as physical therapy, chiropractic, and medication, we prefer that patient referred to us as early as possible,” says Duke Health physiatrist H. Michael Guo, MD, PhD.

“We want to deal with back and neck pain as early as we can to minimize the possibility of that pain becoming chronically sensitized,” physiatrist Min Ho Chang, MD, agrees. Chang joins Duke Health after more than 20 years treating spine and musculoskeletal pain as an Army physician.

The spine injection suite at Duke Orthopaedics of Apex provides minimally invasive care for patients with back pain and neck pain, with or without radicular leg or arm pain. Conditions commonly treated include cervical or lumbar degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis, sciatica, facet joint arthritic pain, and sacroiliac (SI) joint pain.

The suite offers the full range of fluoroscopic or ultrasound guided injections that are also available at the Duke Spine Center in Durham and Duke Arringdon in Morrisville, including:

• Cervical or lumbar epidural steroid injections for neck/arm symptoms and back/leg symptoms, respectively, including interlaminar, transforaminal, and caudal approaches
• Medial branch block and radiofrequency ablation
• Facet joint steroid injection
• Lumbar sympathetic block
• SI joint injection
• Stellate ganglion block
• Ganglion impar block
• Shoulder, knee, and hip joint steroid injections

With this new suite, Duke Health is expanding access to spine care for more of the Triangle with not only more spaces and appointments but also more fellowship-trained physicians to provide Duke’s world-class care.

Duke’s providers offer holistic assessment for patients. “We look at the patient as a whole,” says Chang. “We can identify other musculoskeletal or biomechanic ailments to address those conditions as well. If it’s not something our team treats, we can direct them to resources across Duke.”

“Physiatry focuses on restoring patient function and quality of life,” Guo agrees. “The physiatrist is like the leader of a team: we plan the treatment regimen for the patient and can escalate care whenever it’s needed.”

Referral to Duke connects patients with the treatments and resources to minimize pain and allow them to return to the activities of daily living. “I would say we provide the best care in the Triangle,” says Guo. “The sooner we can intervene, the better the outcome.”