Intradiscal Injection

Back pain generated from spinal discs is very common and called discogenic pain. Disc tears, degenerations, and herniations are typical causes. Successful treatment of disogenic pain depends on accurate diagnosis. However, it is often challenging, because problems of every structure in the back can cause the pain.

In addition to history, physical exams, and image studies, doctors some times use intradiscal injection of steroids and anesthetic medications for differential diagnosis of discogenic back pain. Typically, steroid could relieve pain for about 2 to 3 weeks, but injection of anesthetic medications only relieves pain from a few hours to 1 or 2 days. This difference helps doctors confirm if the pain is from disc problems (discogenic).

The injections are very much the same as discography studies. The patient is given local and intravenous sedative anesthesia during the procedures. A needle is inserted to a disc under X-ray guidance. The steroid or anesthetic medications is injected to the same disc but on a different day, with a gap after the pain returns from each injection. Based on the predictable results, doctors will be able to tell if his or her back pain is from disc problems (discogenic).

Atlantic spinal care is a leader in minimally invasive and endoscopic spine surgery. We try everything possible to make an accurate diagnosis of your pain before you are treated.