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Spinal Injections

Spinal Injections at The London Spine Unit

Where chronic back pain is experienced, spinal injections ie Caudal epidural nerve root blocks facet joint injections radiofrequency denervation, may be used to diagnose the cause of the pain as well as treat it.

If an injection provides pain relief it is likely that the particular area is the source of the problem but injections also provide temporary relief from pain.

A local anaesthetic called lidocaine is injected into a specific area of the spine, the effects of which wear off within two hours, or Bupivicaine may be used as is lasts longer, providing the patient more relief from pain, Cortisone is a strong anti-inflammatory steroid medication which is often injected as well as a local anaesthetic in order to reduce inflammation in the affected areas.

It may not begin working for several days following the injection but its effects can last for months.

Patients with disc prolapse are offered early injection treatments to eradicate sciatica and back pain. All spinal injections are performed under sedation and fluoroscopy to ensure accuracy and minimal discomfort. Patients failing to respond to injections may undergo keyhole surgery to remove the prolapsed disc

Technical Tips & Info

Benefits of a spinal injection:

-Temporary or prolonged pain alleviation.

-Temporary or prolonged reduction of inflammation in the region of the spine that causes pain.

-Enhanced ability to perform daily life activities without the previous restrictions caused by pain.

-It can help to confirm the exact site that generated pain. This is, in general, a problem in those patients who have more than one possible cause of pain. 

-It could reduce the need for invasive procedures.

-Allows the body mechanisms time to heal the underlying condition

-Allows the ability to undertake physical therapy to enhance healing of the underlying problem. 

Limitations

An spinal injection is usually highly effective in more recent conditions and has a lower success rate when the problem is longstanding. In a few cases, an epidural injection may offer little or no alleviation of pain.

Each patient is different; however, there are times when the injection can be repeated after a few weeks or months to receive the utmost benefit from the medication. If epidural injections do not help to relieve pain, we will probably recommend another therapy.

Specialist Doctors

Consultant Spine Surgeon
Consultant Spine Surgeon
Consultant Spine Surgeon

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This surgical technique consists of a percutaneous approach for the treatment of small to medium size hernias of the intervertebral disc by laser energy. The main objective is to reduce the intradiscal pressure in the nucleus pulposus
Laser Disc Surgery can be performed under local anaesthetic as a day case at our centre on the prestigious Harley Street.

Spinal injections Articles

J Orthop Surg Res. 2023 Mar 25;18(1):242. doi: 10.1186/s13018-023-03723-7.ABSTRACTBACKGROUND: To explore the characteristics and clinical management of thoracic spinal stenosis
J Neurosurg Spine. 2023 Mar 24:1-11. doi: 10.3171/2023.2.SPINE221341. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTOBJECTIVE: Workers' compensation (WC) and litigation have been shown
Abstract Background: No study had directly compared the reliability, correlation with clinical symptoms, and surgical outcomes of dural sac cross-sectional
Abstract Purpose: The incidence of osteoporotic compression fractures (VCFs) have been rising over the past decades. Presently, vertebral cement augmentation
Abstract Background: Currently, there are different routines in Norwegian hospitals regarding how recent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the lumbar
BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2023 Mar 23;24(1):217. doi: 10.1186/s12891-023-06329-6.ABSTRACTOBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using

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