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FACET
JOINT INJECTIONS
The facet joints are
the joints that are made up of the overlapping arches of the bones that
make up your spinal canal. This is the portion that supports your back
from one vertebral bone to the next. The facet joints are located in the
entire spine, cervical, thoracic, and lumbar. Your sacrum, which is one
solid bone, does not have a facet joint.
The technique of performing facet joint
injections is as follows:
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You
will be undressed and placed on the fluoroscopy (x-ray) table.
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The
portion of the body over the facet joint block will be sterilely
prepped and draped.
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Dr.
Columbus will administer sedation if it is necessary.
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Using
the fluoroscopy, your facet joints will be identified and marked.
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Small,
thin needles will be inserted into or adjacent to the facet joints
after anesthetizing the skin over the facet joints. Medication will
then
be injected into the facet joints.
After the
procedure, you will be monitored in the recovery area. You should
not engage in heavy activity the first day post procedure. The risks
of the procedure are injection of medication into a spinal nerve
resulting in numbness or decreased function of the extremity for a
short time; injection of medication into a blood vessel; bleeding;
or the risk of infection. Due to the highly skilled techniques
employed by Dr. Columbus, these risks are very minimal.
The purpose of facet joint injections is to decrease your pain and
to help determine if it is the facet joints that are causing your
pain. These injections are often performed in conjunction with
physical therapy to increase the efficacy of your physical therapy.
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