Interventional pain physician and anesthesiologist. He has practiced in St. Louis for more than two decades.
Dr. Gurpreet Singh Padda, MD, MBA, MHP, is the physician responsible for care at Gateway Midwest Healthcare. He trained in anesthesiology and interventional pain medicine. He treats patients in both Missouri and Illinois.
How does Dr. Padda approach chronic pain?
Most pain practices treat the place that hurts. That works for an acute injury. It fails for anything that has lasted months, because by then the problem is rarely limited to one joint or one disc. A pain signal that will not switch off is being kept alive by something. It may be poor sleep, unstable blood sugar, chronic inflammation, loss of fitness, or a nervous system that has learned to turn the volume up.
So patients here get asked about things that seem to have nothing to do with a back injury. That is on purpose. Treat the structural problem and ignore what feeds it, and people end up having the same injection every three months for years.
What is Dr. Padda’s approach to opioids?
He is direct about this. The goal is to get people off opioids, not to keep them on. Read the full opioid stewardship policy.
The published record on that
On International Overdose Awareness Day in August 2026 he published his practice’s own opioid figures. New patients usually arrive above 90 morphine milligram equivalents a day. They have been in pain for more than two and a half years. Within 90 days of active interventional treatment, 21% are completely off opioid pain medicine. Within a year, 34% are. Most of those who cannot fully come off are brought below 30 MME a day.
Those are figures the practice reported from its own patients, not trial outcomes, and individual results vary. Reported by AP News; the full release is here.
Does Dr. Padda treat accident and injury patients?
At the Natural Bridge Road office, the largest share of the practice is accident and injury care — people hurt in crashes, falls and at work. Alongside that is full pain management for patients whose pain has become chronic.
Hurt in an accident? Start here.
You do not need a lawyer, a police report or a referral to be seen. Bring your symptoms and we will work out the rest.
Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Same-day appointments are often available for new accident and injury patients.
Where did Dr. Padda train?
Dr. Padda earned a BA in Biology and his MD at the University of Missouri–Kansas City. He completed a general surgery residency at Cook County Hospital and the University of Illinois–Chicago. He then did an anesthesia residency at Illinois Masonic. He did a second anesthesia residency at Washington University and Barnes Hospital, including pediatric anesthesia at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, where he served as Chief Resident. He later earned an MBA from Saint Louis University and the Certified Physician Executive credential from the American College of Physician Executives.
Is Dr. Padda board certified?
He holds board certification in anesthesiology, interventional pain management, addiction medicine and obesity medicine. He also holds a diplomate qualification from the American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians. That mix is unusual, and it bears directly on this practice. The interventional training goes after the structure causing the pain. The addiction certification shapes opioid stewardship, not opioid avoidance. And the obesity and metabolic training goes after the inflammatory setting that injured tissue is asked to heal in.
You can check his credentials yourself. His individual NPI is 1427035955. He is licensed in Missouri and holds licenses in several other states too. Gateway Midwest Healthcare’s group NPI is 1811368244.
Academic and society roles
He served as Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and of Pediatrics at Cardinal Glennon and Saint Louis University. He was Associate Director of Pediatric Anesthesiology and Director of the Pediatric Acute Pain Service. He was also Deputy Director of the Saint Louis University Institutional Review Board. He now holds a faculty appointment with the Kansas City University Freeman Health System psychiatry residency. There he teaches pain and addiction.
He has served as President of the Missouri Society of Interventional Pain Physicians across two periods. He has been a board member and examiner for the American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians.
Research and national presentations
His published work covers Neuromodulation, Pain Medicine, Critical Care Medicine, Anesthesia & Analgesia, Paediatric Anaesthesia, Ophthalmology, Dermatologic Surgery, the Southern Medical Journal and Pain Physician. He also serves as a review editor for PharmacoEconomics. He delivered keynote addresses to the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians in 2020 and 2021, on treating metainflammation in interventional pain and on metabolic inflammation and the hedonic treadmill.
Published research. His peer-reviewed record is registered under ORCID 0009-0001-0166-3186 and indexed at PubMed, OpenAlex and Semantic Scholar. His biographical record is Wikidata Q141049117.
Find Dr. Padda Online
How that shapes the practice
The common thread: pain is a signal with a source, not a condition to medicate forever. The interventional work finds and treats the structure causing it. The metabolic work goes after why the tissue is not repairing. And the addiction training means an existing opioid load is handled as a medical problem to reduce on purpose, not as a reason to turn you away.
Common questions
Does Dr. Padda perform the procedures himself?
Yes. The doctor who examines you is the doctor who does the procedure. That keeps what the exam found tied to where the needle goes.
Can I verify these credentials?
Yes, and you should be able to for any physician. The individual NPI is 1427035955. You can check board certifications with the boards that issue them.
What does the obesity and addiction certification have to do with pain?
A great deal. A broken metabolism slows tissue repair. Long-term opioid use changes how the body processes pain. Both are treated here instead of being sent elsewhere.
How long has Dr. Padda practiced in St. Louis?
More than two decades. He is an interventional pain physician and anesthesiologist. He earned his MD at the University of Missouri–Kansas City and completed anesthesia residencies at Illinois Masonic and at Washington University and Barnes Hospital. He is the physician responsible for care at Gateway Midwest Healthcare.
Where does Dr. Padda see patients?
At the Gateway Midwest Healthcare office on Natural Bridge Road in St. Louis. Accident and injury care is the largest share of the practice there. Alongside it is full pain management for patients whose pain has become chronic. He treats patients in both Missouri and Illinois. You can book with Schedule Now or call (314) 310-5577.
What does Dr. Padda specialize in?
Interventional pain medicine, built on anesthesiology training. He holds board certification in anesthesiology, interventional pain management, addiction medicine and obesity medicine. In practice that means treating the structure causing the pain. It means handling an existing opioid load as a problem to reduce. And it means going after the metabolic drivers that slow healing.