Treatments

Nerve Block Injections (Diagnostic Medial Branch Blocks)

Diagnostic nerve blocks injections are used to determine the source of pain that is considered a non-surgical treatment. It is a minimally-invasive treatment for arthritis related to low back pain. This procedure injects anesthetic medication near small medial nerves connected to a specific facet joints. Typically several levels of the spine are injected in one procedure. This procedure is primarily diagnostic therefore if a patient experiences marked pain relief immediately after the injection, then the facet joint is determined to be the source of the pain. A second diagnostic injection will be performed to confirm the source of pain. After two medial branch blocks have been confirmed as the source of pain, the patient may be a candidate for a subsequent procedure called: medial branch radiofrequency neurotomy/rhizotomy ablation for a longer term pain relief. During the procedure, a live x-ray called fluoroscopy is used to guide the needle to the correct area.