Stellate Ganglion Blocks

So, a stellate ganglion block is again used for sympathetically maintained pain or complex regional pain syndrome of the upper extremities. The stellate ganglion lives at the base of the cervical spine and what we do there is we place a needle at the base of the neck, under fluoroscopic guidance, under sedation, and just proximal, just above the level of the stellate ganglion, inject local anesthetic and medication again. This, again, is used to treat arm pain from a sympathetic problem. Either a nerve injury, or again [00:32] complex regional pain syndrome. This is very similar to the lumbar sympathetic nerve block that we’ve mentioned previously of the back for the legs. This in fact would treat mostly the pain that goes to the arm and hands. It can also be used similarly like we have mentioned before for disease processes like Raynaud’s syndrome, where you have a decreased amount of blood flow. When you do a sympathetic nerve block in the neck, a stellate ganglion block, you will notice a few changes, one of which happens to be increased blood flow and temperature to the arm that you are treating. So, we can confirm that we have a good block by vasodilatation, or increased blood flow to the hand, increased temperature to the hand and arm, as well as diminishing the pain.