Facet Joint Injections
Atlas Pain and Spine uses Facet joint injections, Medial Branch Blocks and Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) to map out and stop pain-generating or pain-transmitting nerves and joints. This is often done for patients with significant mid or low back or neck pain, but can be used on joints as well. A small amount of numbing medication is placed very precisely on the small nerves transmitting pain. If you undergo a medial branch block, it may provide significant relief for sometimes a few hours or days (short term significant relief is still a great sign, as it means the pain-transmitting nerves have been located). If this happens, you will be a candidate for Radiofrequency Ablation, which can provide 6-12 months of relief or sometimes longer. Radiofrequency Ablation is a short procedure that creates a very localized warm area encompassing the nerve, causing it to shut off. It will generally take 1-8 weeks to gain the full benefit of the procedure. The nerves take 6-12 months to regenerate, and during that time you should experience significant relief.
Steps:
1. Overview: Your vitals will be taken, a safety check performed and your medical history updated. You’ll then be brought to the procedure suite.
2. Sedation and Positioning: You will be positioned lying down on your stomach or back, depending on your specific site of pain. Sedation may be administered intravenously and the skin over the procedure site may be numbed.
3. Injection: Using X-ray guidance a needle will be advanced to the landmarks where the nerve travels. A small amount of numbing medication and possibly steroid, will be injected at the area and then the needle will be removed. This will be repeated to map out the location of the pain-transmitting nerves and joints. A band-aid will be applied to the injection sites. You’re all done! Generally, the procedure itself will only take a few minutes. Variations may be made to accommodate for patients’ individual conditions or allergies.
4. Recovery: Our friendly staff will take you to a recovery area where you’ll be monitored for any unlikely issues or complications, and follow-up appointments will be scheduled.