Spinal Injections
A spinal injection is given to help reduce pain and improve function of the spine. The injection helps relieve pain by reducing inflammation. The type of injection you receive is dependent upon your symptoms, physical examination and imaging evaluation.
How It’s Done
A spinal injection is performed under X-ray guidance, a technique called fluoroscopy. This technique ensures correct placement of the injection and improves safety. The procedure is done under mild sedation without anaesthesia.
After confirming the level of injection under X ray guidance, a liquid contrast, or dye, is injected before the medication. If the dye does not flow into the correct location, then the needle is repositioned and more dye is injected until the correct flow is obtained. Once the correct flow pattern is achieved, then the medication is injected.
Types of Spinal Injections
Epidural Injections: These injections are therapeutic and involve injecting an anesthetic and anti-inflammatory medication near the affected nerve. This helps to resolve pain and reduce inflammation. The injection can be done at a very specific, isolated nerve to determine which nerve is the source of pain.
Facet Joint Injections: This injection is both therapeutic and diagnostic. It is often used when pain is caused by degenerative arthritic conditions. It is typically used to treat neck and lower back pain. First, an anesthetic can be injected directly into the joint or nerves carrying the pain signals away from the joint. If most of the pain is relieved with anesthetic into the joint, then a therapeutic injection of a steroid is given to provide lasting pain relief.
Sacroiliac Joint Injections: This injection is similar to facet joint injections. Sacroiliac joints are located between the sacrum and ilium, known as the pelvic bones. Problems with the sacroiliac joints are known to cause pain in the lower back, buttock, and leg. Generally one joint is painful and causes pain on one side of the lower body.