Lumbar Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injection
You have nerves that run from your spinal cord to your legs. When one of those nerve roots gets irritated or inflamed, pain can radiate from your back to your legs and feet. Lower-back pain that radiates is a challenging condition to treat. An epidural injection may be helpful in decreasing inflammation, relieving pain and allowing the disc to heal. Epidural injections deliver steroids, anesthetics and/or regenerative medicine, like stem cells or PRP, into the epidural space around spinal nerve roots. These pain management injections can help reduce inflammation and pain and also promote healing. We offer lumbar transforaminal epidural steroid injections at Caliber Pain™ in NYC.
The transforaminal, or selective, nerve root block is an injection of a local anesthetic, steroid or regenerative medicine, using ultrasound or x-ray guidance, into the area where the nerve exits the spinal column. We use it for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes to either confirm the source of pain or deliver medicine or regenerative substances to the area.
If you receive a good, lasting benefit from the injection, the block may be repeated on an interval prescribed by your surgeon. Sometimes your surgeon will prescribe a block to confirm whether surgery might be your best option and at what level.
How Are Transforaminal Injections Performed?
Caliber Pain™ doctors perform this procedure on an outpatient basis in a treatment room at our state-of-the-art facility equipped with ultrasound or fluoroscopic x-ray technology.
- In the pre-procedure area, the nurse or doctor will place an IV line. This is used for fluids and sedation if needed.
- When you get to the procedure room you will be connected to monitoring equipment (EKG monitor, blood pressure cuff and blood oxygen monitoring device).
- You will be positioned comfortably on your abdomen.
- The injection site is cleansed with antiseptic soap, after which our doctor will inject numbing medicine that causes a slight burning sensation for a few seconds.
- Contrast dye is injected to confirm that medication is administered in the correct space.
- A mixture of anesthetic (for temporary pain relief), steroid (for longer-term relief) and/or regenerative options such as stem cells or PRP is administered.
- You will be monitored for 20-30 minutes in the recovery room.
- You will be given verbal and written discharge instructions.
- If you have had sedation, you must be accompanied by a responsible adult, 18 or over, to drive you home or ride with you in a taxi.
Usually, the procedure takes about 20 minutes, and you can go home the same day.
How Effective is as Lumbar Transforaminal Injection?
Some patients report pain relief within 30 minutes after the injection. However, pain may return a few hours later as the anesthetic wears off. Longer-term relief usually begins in two to three days, once the steroid begins to work, and stem cells and PRP can take up to 4 to 6 weeks. How long the pain relief lasts is different for each patient. For some, the relief lasts several months or longer.
If you suffer from chronic lower back or radiating pain down your legs, come see our specialists at Caliber Pain™. We offer lumbar transforaminal epidural steroid injections and other treatment modalities at our clinic in Midtown Manhattan.