Pain Center
Post-Surgical Pain
When surgery resolved the issue but pain remained — interventional options that can help.
Overview
Understanding post-surgical pain.
Persistent post-surgical pain is one of the most under-recognized and most treatable chronic pain syndromes in medicine. Whether the surgery was on the spine, knee, hip, chest, abdomen, or breast, a meaningful percentage of patients develop pain that outlasts the expected healing window — and most of these patients do not get the focused interventional workup their case deserves.
We see this every week. The patient who had a successful spine surgery but the leg pain came back. The patient with persistent groin pain after hernia repair. The patient with thoracic pain after a thoracotomy. The patient with mastectomy pain that everyone said "would just take time" but did not.
There is almost always a specific anatomic explanation, and almost always an interventional toolkit that can address it — selective nerve blocks, RFA, sympathetic blocks, scar neuroma injection, spinal cord stimulation. We will work through it methodically.
Common Symptoms
- Persistent or new pain at or near the surgical site
- Burning, electric, or sensitivity-to-touch quality
- Pain in a specific dermatome or scar pattern
- Pain that has not improved beyond 3–6 months post-op
Common Causes
- Persistent post-surgical pain syndrome (PPSP)
- Failed back surgery syndrome
- Post-thoracotomy or post-mastectomy pain
- Neuroma or scar entrapment
How we approach post-surgical pain.
Diagnosis & workup
- Detailed surgical history including operative reports when available.
- Mapping of pain to surgical anatomy and dermatome.
- Focused exam including scar palpation and provocative testing.
- Imaging of the surgical region when warranted.
- Diagnostic blocks (e.g., intercostal, ilioinguinal, dorsal root) to confirm the pain generator.
When to see a specialist
- Pain at or near a surgical site lasting beyond 3–6 months.
- Burning, electric, or sensitivity-to-touch pain in a specific distribution.
- Pain that has not improved with the surgeon's standard course.
- Reliance on long-term opioids after surgery.
- Failed back surgery syndrome — leg or back pain that returned after spine surgery.
What to expect over time.
Recovery from post-surgical pain treatment varies widely by case. Some patients experience dramatic relief from a single targeted nerve block. Others require a stepwise plan over months — diagnostic blocks, RFA, eventually spinal cord stimulation if needed. Our standard is to make consistent, measurable progress at each step rather than promise a single fix.
Direct answers — no jargon.
If your question isn’t here, ask us at your consultation.
- Persistent or recurrent back and/or leg pain after spine surgery, despite anatomically successful surgery. It is one of the strongest indications for spinal cord stimulation.
How we treat post-surgical pain, differently.
We are willing to take the time to figure out the specific pain generator in a post-surgical case. Many practices either (a) treat all post-surgical pain with one tool, or (b) defer to the surgeon's reassurance that nothing is wrong. Neither helps the patient. Our diagnostic discipline — the willingness to sequence through targeted blocks until we identify the source — is what gets these cases unstuck.
Other conditions we treat.
See all conditionsNeuropathic Pain
Burning, electric, or tingling pain caused by injury or irritation of the nerves themselves.Learn moreChronic Pain
Pain that persists beyond expected healing — and the comprehensive plan it requires.Learn moreBack Pain
The most common reason patients come to us — and where we have the most to offer.Learn moreMedically Reviewed
Reviewed by Edward Baumgartner Jr., MD · Last reviewed . Information on this page is not medical advice. Always consult your physician.
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