An Albuquerque-area doctor brought a new way to treat chronic pain without the use of opioids to New Mexico, according to KOB 4.
John Watkins of the New Mexico Pain Center was the first doctor in the Land of Enchantment to use the procedure, called dorsal root ganglion stimulation (DRG), successfully.
"This may be an intermediate step to help postpone surgery, give you some good relief," Watkins said.
During the DRG procedure, he implants a small device in the spine that sends electric impulses to block pain signals before they reach the brain.
"Applying electricity to the nervous system to change the way it transmits pain and also change the way pain is processed in the brain, it's become very powerful," Watkins said. "It's a life changer."
There is a short recovery period – approximately three days – for most patients.
Watkins said his practice utilizes DRG because it is effective, and pain medications are not needed after the procedure.
"Interventional pain management is very surgical now, and we're trying to get away from keeping people on medications," he said. "I think there's a lot of people we can help with these minimally invasive techniques to manage their pain without a lot of drugs."
Watkins can also stabilize a patient's spine with minor surgery, KOB 4 reported.
"If we get narrowing in the central canal, patients manifest weakness upon standing for any length of time, pain with standing; they can't walk very far, they're limited shopping, legs don't work very well," he said. "If they sit down and rest, it gets better."
He said he puts a spacer between two bones to keep the space open in the central canal of the spine.