Thursday, December 29, 2011

Manipulation Under Anesthesia (MUA) for Back and Neck Pain

By David Greene


Many people find relief from pain through chiropractic, for those that cannot under normal circumstances find this relief that others are fortunate to experience they may consider manipulation under anesthesia. Manipulation under anesthesia is utilized when patients do not respond to normal treatment, or cannot tolerate that may be pain associated with the treatment due to their condition.

In a procedure designed to break up scar tissue and adhesions in the local tissues around the spine, the combination of specified manipulations that are short lever along with passive stretching maneuvers are utilized in the manipulation anesthesia procedure.

Differing levels of anesthesia

Three different anesthesia methods are used for the procedure, the 1st, is the least risky and invasive and involves injecting anesthesia into the area around the tissue that is going to be manipulated. During this type of procedure the patient remains alert and awake, but the area being manipulated is not in severe pain because of the numbing medicine. This is referred to as local anesthesia because the medicine stays in the region just around the manipulation.

The second method of anesthesia used during this procedure is mild sedation. The patient is sedated but awake, this state of sedation causes the patient to be relaxed and to feel less discomfort, if any, during the procedure. This method of treatment may be utilized with the aforementioned local anesthetic method. This method is slightly more invasive than the first as the patient would not be allowed to drive themselves home after the treatment and so would need to bring a friend or family to help them after the treatment.

The next type of anesthesia is general anesthesia where the patient is put out completely. This is an advanced level and is usually utilized when a significant amount of manipulation will be necessary for the treatment. Only licensed individuals perform this type of anesthesia in either a surgery center or hospital setting.

Choreographed Teamwork

Unlike a typical chiropractic adjustment, manipulation or anesthesia requires a team of individuals. There's typically a chiropractor who has specialty training in the procedure, a physician who is either a D.O. or an M.D., and in the anesthesiologist. This procedure has been around for over 60 years and the American Medical Association recognizes its existence.

Candidates for this type of treatment would be those that do not respond to traditional chiropractic treatment due to scarring in the tissue and/or adhesions surrounding the spine due to injury.

This treatment may be used in conjunction with physical therapy and surgery or both. Candidates for this procedure would have had prior treatment for periods of six to eight weeks without response. As with other procedures, success varies with the individual, but many have found relief through this method.




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