Epidural Steroid Injections NEW

The epidural space is comprised of fat and blood vessels, and it surrounds the dural sac. In turn, the dural sac encircles the spinal cord and nerve roots. An epidural steroid injection is a type of therapeutic injection that places steroid medicine and a local anesthetic into the epidural space where it coats parts of the spinal cord and nerve roots. These injections can treat pain in a large region of the body, helping to minimize inflammation and thereby providing pain relief for patients experiencing chronic pain related to spinal stenosis and/or a disc herniation with associated neck (cervical), back (thoracic / lumbar) and extremity pain.  Scroll down to meet Dr. Faltas with iSpine Clinics, and learn more about what to expect during an ESI procedure.

An epidural steroid injection involves the administration of local anesthetic (numbing medication) and steroid solution into the epidural space. This is performed under fluoroscopy (X-ray), in order to deliver the drug to the precise location. There are two types of epidural steroid injections:

• Intra-laminar approach (more central approach, between the bones of the spine)
• Trans-foraminal approach (through the nerve root opening)

Your pain specialist will have you lay on your stomach while they numb the surrounding skin nearest the pain site with a local anesthetic. With fluoroscopic guidance, a thin needle is guided into your back and into the epidural space, closest to the site of the pain, where medication is administered. Usually, the procedure takes less than 10 minutes, and you can go home the same day after being monitored in the recovery room for 30 minutes