Injection therapy of facet and sacroiliac joints
Indications
- Chronic back pain, if the facet and sacro-iliac joints are the cause.
- Joint arthrosis; for example mal positioning of the spine (Skoliosis)
- Chronic pain after accidents or spinal surgery
- Joint infammation.
Injection therapy of the facet and the sacro-iliac joints
Facet joint or sacroiliac joints are the cause of unspecific back pain with a prevalence of 30% – 19%. As all joints, the facet and sacroiliac joints are exposed to burdens and degeneration throughout a patients life (pain by degeneration). Due to substantial innervation of these joints, degeneration can cause pain with increasing age of the patient. However, these promblems can also occur in young patients, depending on weight, posture and preceding accidents.
With a medical pain block of the facet or sacroiliac joints, the pain is precisely eliminated. To ensure this, analgetic and anti-inflammatory medication is injected into and at the afflicted joint (similar to SIT). Planning, procedure and post-OP monitoring are all controlled with open MR imaging. The procedure can be performed multiple times and the patient is free to leave 1-2 hrs after the injetction therapy.
Case
20 year old patient with right sided deep back pain and minor radicular pain syndrome with radiation into the right thigh. Left: T2-w SPIR sequence, directly before the intervention. Depiction of the edema on the right sacro iliac joint, presenting with sacroiliac joint inflammation and diagnosed M. Bechterew. Center: Needle insertion into the inflammated joint. Right: Injection control. The patient was pain free, the day after the intervention.
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