What is Stellate Ganglion Block?
The stellate ganglion block (SGB) is a procedure in which an injection of a long-acting local anesthetic, using ultrasound guidance, is made in the side of the neck around the main nerve that controls the “fight or flight” response (the sympathetic nervous system). This nerve, (the cervical sympathetic chain) which is a two-way conduit, connects the parts of the brain that control the fight or flight response (referred to as the central autonomic network) to the rest of the body. By blocking or “turning off” the traffic in the cervical sympathetic chain, it is believed that the parts of the brain that control the fight or flight response are allowed to completely reset, resulting in long-term relief of the associated anxiety symptoms. Multiple peer-reviewed medical studies show that SGB results in significant long-term improvement in chronic anxiety symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress injury (PTSI). The SGB takes less than 15 minutes to perform, and benefits are seen in as little as 30 minutes.
(Although the term PTSD is more commonly used, Dr. Mulvaney and Dr. Lynch feel that the term post traumatic stress injury (PTSI) is medically more accurate. After all, an injury is something you can recover from.)
The Stellate Institute
Dr. Sean Mulvaney and Dr. James Lynch pioneered the use of stellate ganglion block (SGB) for PTSD when they served together in the military.
In March 2021, Dr. Lynch joined Dr. Mulvaney to form The Stellate Institute in Annapolis. They will continue their mission of advancing innovations in the treatment of trauma and of providing world class care to their patients.
Meet Sean Mulvaney, M.D.
As an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Dr. Mulvaney is board certified in Sports Medicine and Pain Medicine. He is the co-founder of The Stellate Institute. During his 31-year military career, Dr. Mulvaney served our nation’s Special Operations community as both a US Navy SEAL officer and a US Army physician.
In 2008, he became the first Department of Defense physician to be credentialed in regenerative medicine techniques such as platelet-rich plasma and stem cell therapy for repair of musculoskeletal and spine injuries. Dr. Mulvaney is the internationally recognized leader in the use of SGB for PTSD. He was the first to use Stellate Ganglion Block to treat combat-related PTSI and has published in this field of research for over 10 years. He is internationally known as an educator of other physicians and has pioneered and extensively published on ultrasound-guided techniques.
As the Chief Science Officer and a staff physician with Regenerative Orthopedics and Sports Medicine in Annapolis, Maryland, (home of The Stellate Institute) Dr. Mulvaney focuses on the repair of musculoskeletal, nerve and spine injuries using regenerative medicine techniques with ultrasound and fluoroscopic guidance.
Why should Dr. Mulvaney perform my SGB?
Simply put, he is the best and most experienced physician in the world at successfully using SGB to treat PTSI. Since 2009, Dr. Mulvaney has safely completed thousands of ultrasound-guided SGBs to treat PTSI in military and civilian patients.
After compassionately treating thousands of patients with PTSD, his insights into patients suffering with PTSD allow him to use the therapeutic window created by the SGB to significantly augment the benefits of the procedure alone.
As a US Navy SEAL and a physician, he has seen the long-lasting pain that post-traumatic stress injury causes to individuals and families. He is sincerely invested in your recovery and will monitor your progress long after the procedure is done.
Dr. Mulvaney has 10 peer-reviewed medical publications (6 original studies) on this topic and has been the invited speaker at more than 10 international/national-level lectures on SGB for PTSI. He has taught hundreds of physicians neck sonographic anatomy and the SGB technique.
As a fellowship-trained and board-certified interventional pain physician, he is also proficient in fluoroscopically (x-ray) guided SGBs, but he strongly feels that the fluoroscope method is more painful, less accurate and unnecessarily exposes patients to ionizing radiation.
Additionally, Dr. Lynch is a U.S. Olympic Team Physician and has supported USA Swimming since 2011. Skilled in both physical and mental health issues, Dr. Lynch has supported elite Olympians in international competitions including multiple World Championships and both the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. Dr. Lynch earned a BS in Psychology from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1989, an MS in healthcare improvement from Dartmouth College in 2001, and his medical degree from Brown Medical School in 2003.
on global health initiatives, I have developed meaningful partnerships with numerous medical experts worldwide. I am an international influencer in the fields of special operations medicine and military medicine. My graduate training from The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice has fueled my passion for continuously improving patient-centered systems. As a Physician-Leader for more than a decade, I have developed systematic improvements that produced significant results.–Dr. James Lynch, MD, Colonel (ret), Co-Founder, The Stellate Institute
