Facet Joint Injection
A Facet Joint Injection may be right for you if you have pain on both sides of your neck (lateral cervical) or thigh/buttock (lumbar) pain.
What are the anticipated benefits?
A Facet Joint Injection can be used for diagnostic purposes to identify the source of irritation in the small joints at each segment of the spine (the vertebrae), and may be used to block the pain. This pain relief may enable you to undergo necessary conventional treatment, such as physical therapy, to rehabilitate your back.
You may experience numbness and/or relief from your symptoms for up to six hours after the injection. Your usual symptoms may then return and may possibly be worse than usual for a day or two. The beneficial effects of the steroids usually require 2-3 days to take hold, but may take as long as 5-7 days.
Also, if your pain subsides, but begins to return weeks or months later, additional injections — up to four a year — are possible.
How does it work?
A Facet Joint Injection only takes about 20-30 minutes for the actual procedure. However, you will be asked to wait an additional 20 minutes after the procedure so that the clinic staff can monitor your symptoms.
You will be positioned on a special table in our Diagnostic and Therapeutic Injections (DTI) suite. The C-arm (a special x-ray machine) can be rotated to allow the radiologist to monitor the injection to make sure he is precise in targeting the pain source. In addition, the table can be easily rotated to help the contrast dye move to the area of interest.
One of our specialized radiologists will insert a thin needle containing contrast material inside the facet joint thought to be causing your pain He will inject the contrast material to highlight what is happening in your joint space. This will ensure correct placement of the needle for the procedure.
Then, he will slowly release a combination of anti-inflammatory (steroid) and anesthetic (numbing) medications into the facet joint to decrease inflammation and relieve the pain. If multiple levels of pain exist within the facet joints, several injections may be required to pinpoint the pain source in each location.
Are there any risks or negative side affects?
Complication rates with Facet Joint Injections are very low.
As with all injection procedures, the contrast dye contains iodine, so patients with a known allergy to iodine may have an adverse reaction. However, because the contrast is injected into a joint and not a vein, allergic reactions are rare.
The steroid medications used to treat the pain may cause facial flushing, occasional low-grade fevers, hiccups, insomnia, headaches, water retention, increased appetite, increased heart rate, and abdominal cramping or bloating. These side effects are bothersome in only about 5% of patients and commonly disappear within 1-3 days after the injection.
Women should always inform their physician or CDI technologist if there is any possibility that they are pregnant or breast feeding.
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