Facet Nerve Injection
A Facet Nerve Injection may be right for you if you have pain on both sides of your neck (lateral cervical), along your back (thoracic) or in your thighs/buttocks (lumbar) and are considering a Radiofrequency Rhizotomy procedure.
What are the anticipated benefits?
A Facet Nerve Injection can be used for diagnostic purposes to identify the source of irritation in the nerves that run along the outer edge of the facet joints within the spine, and may be used to block the pain. This pain relief may can help your doctor determine whether the nerve irritation should be treated with medication or by Radiofrequency (RF) Rhizotomy, a procedure that burns the nerves and in turn breaks the pain signal to the brain.
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.
How does it work?
A Facet Joint Injection only takes about 10-20 minutes for the actual procedure. However, you will be asked to wait an additional 30-40 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 adjacent to your spinal column, at the location of the facet nerve. He will inject the contrast material to highlight what is happening in your spine. 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 nerves, 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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