Interventional and Neuromodulatory Techniques for Pain Management is a concise well-researched reference series for anyone practicing interventional pain management.

It is a five-volume compendium that provides a comprehensive review on discogenic pain, spinal injections, peripheral nerve blocks, neurostimulation, and intrathecal drug delivery systems. There is even a volume on risk reduction for interventional pain procedures.

The series targets all physicians involved in interventional care of pain. The editor, Dr. Timothy Deer, has brought together some of the leading experts in interventional control of pain to create a guide on indications, contraindications, and complications of various cutting-edge chronic pain treatments. The information is accurate and current, and every volume contains authoritative chapters that detail the evolution of evidence-based treatments. There are exceptional colour illustrations of anatomy, equipment, and radiologic images to enhance the readers’ understanding of how the procedures are performed.

They have accomplished an exceptional task in the organization of the greater part of this series. Volume 1 is divided into five main sections that cover General Considerations, Spinal Cord Stimulation, Peripheral Nerve Stimulation, Practice Management, and Future Directions. Volume 2 is also divided into five similar sections that deal with General Considerations, Implant Devices, Evidence-Based Practice, Intrathecal Drug Delivery Systems for Spasticity, and Future of Intrathecal Drug Delivery Systems. For some reason, Volumes 3, 4, and 5 differ significantly in their organization; either they are not separated into sections at all or they comprise fewer sections. A seamless approach would have been to organize each of the volumes with the heading, General Considerations and Future Directions. Nonetheless, the effort that went into creating this series with the combined number of expert opinions is immeasurable. I particularly enjoyed the Chapter Overview page, which is the first page of every chapter throughout the series. It features a Chapter Synopsis, Important Points, Clinical Pearls, and Clinical Pitfalls.

Each volume also provides a “scratch off” access code that allows the reader to activate access at expertconsult.com. This means any volume in the series can be consulted from any computer at home, the office, or any practice location. The Web site access also allows the reader to gain more information about any bibliographical citation by linking to its MEDLINE abstract. The reader can also download any images from the book into a presentation.

In summary, I highly recommend this series as a main reference for any physician practicing interventional chronic pain management.