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During the procedure a patient lies on his/her back on a special table, equipped by fluoroscope. A physician uses fluoroscope to confirm the correct location of the needle tip and to see the painful areas. The patient takes intravenous anesthetic for relaxation and local anesthetic to numb the skin and tissue down to the ganglion nerves. Then a mixture of anesthetic and anti-inflammatory medicine is injected to block pain signals that travel to the brain via the ganglion nerve from reaching the brain. If the first injection alleviates pain, more can follow over time. Pain relief usually lasts longer after each injection.
Common side effects of this pain management procedure could be compared with common injection side effects, i.e. allergic reaction, bacterial infection, bleeding in seldom cases. Steroids side effects are face, eyes, arms and legs swelling, sugar level increasing for diabetic patients.
The patient must inform the physician about pregnancy or if he/she takes blood thinning medication.
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