Cancer pain, whether from the cancer itself or the treatments, can have a huge impact on your daily life and emotional well-being. Dr. Marissa Catalanotto, MD, offers advanced, in-office cancer pain management on Long Island. Her goal is to optimize pain control, restore function, and help you feel more like yourself again.
Understanding Cancer Pain
Cancer pain can be caused by tumors pressing on bones, nerves, or organs, or as a side effect of treatments like chemotherapy, radiation, immunotherapy, and surgery. The intensity and nature of the pain vary from person to person.
Cancer pain can be complex and is often described as a combination of aching, burning, or sharp sensations. For some individuals, it can be challenging to localize the pain or accurately describe how it feels.
Because your experience is unique, Dr. Catalanotto takes a comprehensive, multimodal approach to care. She evaluates the physical, neurological, and lifestyle factors that contribute to pain and designs a customized treatment plan to get to the root of your discomfort.
Benefits
Benefits of Comprehensive Cancer Pain Management
Improves Quality of Life
Effective cancer pain control can help you stay active, sleep better, and maintain a more positive outlook throughout your cancer journey.
Supports Ongoing Cancer Care
Relieving pain can make it easier to tolerate therapies like chemotherapy and radiation, potentially improving adherence and outcomes.
Minimally Invasive Options
Dr. Catalanotto specializes in advanced, image-guided procedures that safely target pain at its source. This can help you avoid the need for higher doses of oral medications.
Treatments
Cancer Pain Treatment Options
Medication Management
Carefully prescribed medications can help manage mild to moderate cancer pain. Pharmacologic therapy often serves as one part of a multimodal treatment plan.
Vertebral Augmentation
Vertebral augmentation is a minimally invasive procedure indicated to treat vertebral compression fractures caused by metastatic or bone tumors. The procedures relieve pain, reduce the need for pain medications, and improve mobility.
Neuromodulation
Spinal cord stimulation or peripheral nerve stimulation techniques utilize electrical impulses to modify pain signals before they reach the brain. The therapy is a minimally invasive option for patients with chronic pain, treatment-resistant cancer pain, and neuropathy as a result of cancer treatment.
Nerve Blocks and Injections
Targeted injections deliver powerful anti-inflammatory medication and/or anesthetic directly to affected nerves or tissues. This temporarily reduces inflammation and improves comfort.
Bone Tumor Ablation Systems
Bone tumor ablation (BTA) is another minimally invasive procedure for treating painful bone tumors of the mid and low back. The technique uses heat to destroy the tumor tissue, followed by stabilization of the bone. This alleviates pain and prevents fracture.
Targeted Intrathecal Drug Delivery System
This advanced technique provides continuous pain control by delivering medication directly into the cerebrospinal fluid through an implanted pump system. It allows for much lower drug doses compared to oral administration, which reduces side effects.
Meet Dr. Marissa Catalanotto, MD, FAAPMR
Long Island Interventional Pain Management Doctor
Dr. Marissa Catalanotto is a Long Island physiatrist specializing in chronic musculoskeletal and cancer-related pain. She takes a comprehensive, multimodal approach by evaluating the physical, neurological, and lifestyle factors that contribute to pain and dysfunction. She then creates personalized treatment plans tailored to each patient’s goals and needs.
Her expertise includes nerve blocks and injections, radiofrequency ablations and advanced interventions, such as neuromodulation, vertebral augmentation, intrathecal drug delivery, and multidisciplinary pain management strategies.
Dr. Catalanotto works closely with patients to identify the safest and most effective combination of treatments to restore function and quality of life.
Who Can Benefit From Cancer Pain Management?
If cancer pain limits your movement, interferes with sleep, or affects your ability to participate in everyday activities, you can benefit from a consultation with Dr. Marissa Catalanotto. She will work closely with you and your oncology team to determine the safest and most effective combination of treatments for your unique needs.
Who Can Benefit From Cancer Pain Management?
If cancer pain limits your movement, interferes with sleep, or affects your ability to participate in everyday activities, you can benefit from a consultation with Dr. Marissa Catalanotto. She will work closely with you and your oncology team to determine the safest and most effective combination of treatments for your unique needs.
What to Expect
When you visit Dr. Catalanotto for cancer pain management on Long Island, she will perform a detailed evaluation, review your medical history, and discuss your pain symptoms and treatment goals. From there, she’ll create a personalized plan designed to provide both immediate and lasting relief through a combination of interventional and supportive therapies.
FAQ
Is cancer pain treatable?
Yes. Most cancer pain can be effectively managed with the right combination of therapies. As a pain management physician specializing in cancer pain treatment, Dr. Catalanotto uses a multimodal approach, integrating medications, interventional procedures, and supportive care, to help patients achieve meaningful and lasting relief.
What types of cancer pain can be treated?
Treatment can help with many types of pain, including pain from tumors pressing on nerves, bones, or organs; post-surgical pain; neuropathic pain caused by chemotherapy or radiation; and chronic pain from metastatic disease.
Will I still need medication?
Possibly. Many patients benefit from combining pharmacologic therapy with interventional procedures. By directly targeting the source of pain, these procedures can often reduce reliance on systemic pain medications and minimize side effects.
Are these treatments safe?
Yes. Dr. Catalanotto specializes in minimally invasive, image-guided procedures performed in a controlled setting. These treatments are designed to be both safe and effective, with little to no downtime.
How do I know which treatment is right for me?
Every patient’s experience with cancer pain is unique. During your consultation, Dr. Catalanotto will perform a thorough evaluation, review your medical history, and design a personalized treatment plan tailored to your needs and goals.
Can these treatments help if my pain hasn’t improved with medication alone?
Yes. For patients who haven’t found relief with medications or traditional therapies, advanced treatment options like nerve blocks, neuromodulation, or intrathecal drug delivery can significantly improve pain and function.
What type of training does Dr. Catalanotto have?
Dr. Marissa Catalanotto is a Long Island physiatrist specializing in cancer-related pain. She earned her medical degree from St. George’s University and did her internship at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. She served as Chief Resident during her Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation residency at Baylor College of Medicine.
She then completed a Pain Medicine fellowship at MD Anderson Cancer Center, the number one cancer center in the country, where she also served as Chief Fellow.
Additionally, Dr. Catalanotto is a published researcher and award-winning presenter. She stays up-to-date on the latest advances in cancer pain management by attending numerous conferences throughout the year and completing extensive continuing education.
