What to Know About Fluoroscopically-Guided Injections, and Where to Get Them in Charlotte

Fluoroscopically-guided injections are a non-operative, conservative method of treatment for ongoing and chronic back pain or joint pain. These injections are outpatient procedures that can help relieve pain quickly by reducing inflammation in the affected area. Read on to find out why fluoroscopically-guided injections can be an extremely effective non-operative method of treating back or joint pain.

Accuracy delivers medicine more precisely.
Fluoroscopy is a type of imaging that shows a continuous X-ray image as a procedure is performed. The use of fluoroscopy helps improve accuracy by allowing a physician to guide the injection needle to a precise location under direct visualization. This means that the administering physician is able to inject an inflammation-reducing steroid and anesthetic with maximum accuracy.

Who can get fluoroscopically-guided injections?
These steroid injections are used for difficult-to-reach areas of the body such as the spine, shoulder, hip, and sacroiliac joint. They can help treat conditions like hip arthritis, lumbar spine arthritis, lumbar disc herniation, sciatica, piriformis syndrome, sacroiliac joint (SI) issues, shoulder arthritis, and rotator cuff issues. A steroid injection typically includes a corticosteroid (such as dexamethasone, triamcinolone or methylprednisolone) and an anesthetic agent for numbing (such as lidocaine).

Here’s what else you should know.
If your orthopedic provider recommends a fluoroscopically-guided injection, then you’ll be scheduled with an interventional specialist who will place a needle precisely in the affected area and deliver a mixture of medication including a steroid and anesthetic. Pain relief following these injections is typically within one to two weeks and, when coupled with physical therapy and/or oral medications, can be quite effective in reducing a patient’s pain. Although complications from these injections are very rare, it is important to know that complications such as infections and bleeding can occur. Your orthopedic provider can help you determine if a fluoroscopically-guided injection is the best method of treatment for your particular back or joint pain.

Alicia Lazeski, MD, of OrthoCarolina Ballantyne and OrthoCarolina Rock Hill is fellowship-trained in physiatry and interventional spine and is board-certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation.

OrthoCarolina Ballantyne offers a fluoroscopic suite especially for fluoroscopically-guided injections that can accommodate any patient but is particularly convenient to those close to the Ballantyne and Pineville areas.