Low back epidural injections help with back and leg related pain. To perform an epidural injection, the doctor uses an x-ray machine (called a fluoroscopy machine or C-arm) to guide the needle placement. The dark area on the screen reflects the spread of contrast that is injected prior to injecting the steroid mixture to treat pain. You can see here that the contrast is spreading along the nerves and into the epidural space. This means this patient has an excellent chance of benefit from the injection.
This nice patient underwent a transforaminal epidural steroid injection over 6 months ago. She returned to my clinic to request another injection. At her follow-up visit, she noted she had 6 months of 95% pain relief. When a minimally invasive procedure can lead to significant and prolonged pain relief for a patient – that’s a real win!
