Sacroiliac Joint Pain

The Sacroiliac Joint refers to the region of your lower back and buttocks where your pelvis joins the spine. 

A Sacroiliac Injection is an interventional procedure that places pain relieving medication and a steroid into the joint to reduce the inflammation and relieve the pain. Dr. Garcia-Diaz is highly skilled and experienced in performing Sacroiliac Joint Injections as well as a wide variety of other interventional treatments. Using a C-Arm and Fluoroscopy to safely and precisely deliver pain-relieving medications directly into the affected area or areas.

There is very little preparation for this spinal treatment, in fact you may decide to go-ahead with this procedure during your initial consultation. The procedure will be fully explained to you before you decide to proceed.

Please bring any previous imaging study results (MRI, CT, x-rays) such as films, reports, or CD-ROMs, if available, to your initial appointment; if you do not have current images, we may refer you to have studies done prior to the procedure. Please notify your physician if you are nursing or if there is a chance you may be pregnant.

Please be prepared to discuss any medications that you are currently on with our physician, or bring you medication bottles with you to your appointment.

First a small area of skin will be numbed using an anesthetic. This medicine stings for several seconds. Using x-ray guidance (fluoroscopy), your physician will advance a thin needle adjacent to your spinal column, at the location of the facet nerve. By using x-ray guidance, accurate placement of the needle is assured. A small amount of contrast (dye) is injected to insure proper needle position inside the joint space.

Then, a small mixture of numbing medicine (anesthetic) and anti-inflammatory (steroid) medication is injected. One or several joints may be injected depending on location of your usual pain.

There is very little recovery time after this procedure, many patients return to work the same day. You may experience numbness from your symptoms for up to six hours after the injection. Your usual symptoms may then return and may possibly be worse than usual for a day or two.

The beneficial effects of the steroids usually require 2-3 days to be effective, in some cases it may take as long as 5-7 days. If, after a week, there is no change in your symptoms consult with your doctor to investigate other possible causes of your pain.

If an initial injection provided a certain amount of relief, a second injection might strengthen the pain relief effect (known as “stacking”). Some patients have relief in the first few weeks, but the pain returns in the following weeks and months, additional injections will increase your relief of pain.

Keep track of how long relief lasts and report it to your physician. If there is no change in the pain, then investigation can be focused on other possible sources of your pain. The effects of the treatment are in important part of determining the problem and planning future treatment programs.

To find out for certain if you are a candidate for this procedure, schedule a consultation to be evaluated.