Overview
- It’s an outpatient injection that may provide excellent pain relief for numerous types of pelvic pain.
- For those suffering from pelvic pain, opiate medications may not work very well and they have complications.
- This procedure may lessen the need for opiates dramatically.
What is the Superior Hypogastric Plexus?
It’s a bundle of nerves situated in the area where the aorta splits at the bottom of the lumbar spine.
The plexus provides sensation and automatic nerves to a broad area of the pelvis including bladder, urethra, uterus, vagina, prostate, penis, testes, rectum and descending colon.
What conditions are Superior Hypogastric Plexus Blocks used to treat?
- Cancer of the pelvis (cervical prostate, colorectal, testicular)
- Endometriosis
- IBS
- Interstitial Cystitis
- Myofascial Pain Syndrome
- Pelvic pain
- Radiation injury
- Those with scar tissue in the pelvis
Procedure
- Image guidance is used
- Patient placed prone, sedation typically used
- 2 needles used – one from each side
- Dye injected to ensure accurate placement
- Numbing medicine, steroid, possibly phenol
- Procedure takes 30 minutes