What About Sacroiliac Joint Pain And Injection?

A sacroiliac joint injection, typically a pain management is generally used to diagnose and treat lower back pain or sciatica symptoms linked with sacroiliac joint problem that is referred to as a sacroiliac joint block.

Next to the spine, the sacroiliac joints lie and link the sacrum with the hip on both sides. Two sacroiliac joints are present, one on the right and one on the left. Pain can be caused by joint inflammation or dysfunction in this area.

• Procedure for Sacroiliac Joint Injection

The patient lies face down on his or her stomach on the radiography table after informed consent has been received. For patient comfort, a pillow might be put under the hips.

During the entire pain management process, the vitals of the patient (e.g. heart rate and blood pressure) are controlled.

An intravenous line can be inserted to administer medication to help the patient relax, depending on the physician and the choice of the patient.

The skin above the sacroiliac joint area for injection is washed using a solution of iodine-based (e.g. Povidine-Iodine) or an antiseptic based on alcohol to preserve sterility (e.g. chlorhexidine 0.5% in 70 percent alcohol). Throughout the whole injection process, sterile gloves are used.

For the patient's convenience, local anesthetic is sometimes used to numb the needle insertion site. Once the needle reaches the sacroiliac joint under the direction of fluoroscopy, contrast is inserted to check the location of the needle within the sacroiliac joint and to verify the spread of the solution within the joint.

If the needle has been successfully directed through the joint, the joint is injected with diagnostic and/or therapeutic drugs. The pain management doctors would highly recommend this if they find you the right candidate.

• Sacroiliac Joint, what is it?

At the base of the spine, the sacroiliac joints connect the hip bone (the ilium) to the sacrum. For several factors, pain exists. A common cause is chronic pain problems, such as arthritis. Injuries are another reason of sacroiliac joint pain, such as falls. What causes long-term chronic pain is ligament inflammation around the joint, or the weakening of the bone itself.

• Sacroiliac Joint Pain Causes

There are two types of pain associated with the sacroiliac joint: chronic and acute.

Acute pain happens in the region of trauma. For example, in a fall, the ligaments may be strained and this often damages the muscles in the area. In a couple of weeks, intense pain like this sometimes resolves on its own.

Chronic pain is when, for more than three months, the condition continues. Long-term and chronic sacroiliac joint pain is often caused by musculoskeletal conditions such as arthritis.

• What you should expect during your care

A mixture of a local anesthetic and a steroid injection is given.

To minimize any pain, you can lay down on a sterile table and a numbing cream can be applied to the area of your lower back. To direct a needle to the joint in need of injection, an x-ray machine can be used.

The fluid is injected directly into the pain region, near the sacroiliac joint, in this situation. Some immediate pain relief will be given by the local anesthetic and pain management doctors, but the actual injection may cause a little discomfort at first.

The whole operation is very brief and is an outpatient procedure. That means that during your visit, you just need to be at the treatment center-you can go home afterward.

See us at Oklahoma Pain Treatment Centers for treating your back pain once you are done with other alternative options to help your condition.

**Disclaimer: This blog post does not establish terms of a doctor-patient relationship and is not intended to be taken as a doctor's advice.