General guidelines for the management of patients with pain during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic [36]
| Urgency | Examples | Intervention examples |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency | Removal of implanted devices due to complication | Removal of devices |
| SCS implantation or removal after SCS trial | Implantation or removal of SCS | |
| SCS electrodes migration with neurological deficit | Repositioning of SCS leads | |
| ITDDS drug stock finished | Pump refill | |
| Persistent and severe PDPH | Epidural blood patch | |
| Urgent | Neurolysis for severe cancer pain | Neurolysis |
| HIVD with acute neurologic deficit | Epidural steroids injection | |
| Compression fracture of spine with severe pain | Vertebroplasty or kyphoplasty | |
| SCS battery dysfunction | Battery change | |
| Sympathetic nerve block in early stage of CRPS | Sympathetic nerve block | |
| Recurred pain after previous radiofrequency ablation | Radiofrequency ablation | |
| Acute SI joint pain | SI joint block | |
| Peripheral nerve entrapment with neurologic deficit | Peripheral nerve block | |
| Elective | Diagnostic intervention | MBB, discography, |
| Epidural steroid injection for chronic pain control | Epidural steroid injection | |
| Any pain condition that can be managed with alternatives | TPI, intra-articular injection, |
SCS: spinal cord stimulator, ITDDS: intrathecal drug delivery system, PDPH: post-dural puncture headache, HIVD: herniated intervertebral disc, CRPS: complex regional pain syndrome, SI: sacroiliac, MBB: medial branch block, TPI: trigger point injection.
Adapted from the article of Gharibo et al. (Pain Physician 2020; 23(4S): S183-204) [36].