Pain Management FAQ's
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One of the most fascinating areas of SpineUniverse is the community section, where real spinal pain sufferers have the opportunity to speak directly with leading Neurosurgeon, Gerald E. Rodts, M.D. of Emory University, and Orthopaedic Surgeon Rick C. Sasso, M.D. of the Indiana University School of Medicine. We present a series of interesting questions on trauma and injury. SpineUniverse answers appear in red. |
I'VE HAD TWO EPIDURAL INJECIONS FOR FACET JOINT SYNDROM. MY ANESTHESIOLOGIST SUGGESTED RADIO FREQUENCY RHIZOTOMY AND TRIGGER POINT INJECTIONS TO RELIEVE MY CHRONIC PAIN. ALTHOUGH IT SOUNDS SAFE AND THE ONLY ALTERNATIVE TO RELIEVEING MY PAIN, I'M SCEPTICLE. EXACTLY WHAT IS THIS AND WHAT ARE THE DOWNSIDES OF THIS TREATMENT?CAN THER BE PERMANENT DAMAGE TO THE NERVES INVOLVED? WHY DO SPASMS ACCURE AFTER PROCEEDURE. HOW LONG UNTIL PAIN IS RELIEVED. FINALLY HOW NEW IS THIS PROCEEDURE AND WHY IS THERE SO THERE LITTLE INFORMATION ON THIS TREATMENT AVAILABLE OR WHERE TO FIND IT? THANK YOU. Posted by: RITA K. Date Posted - Mar 16 2000
Dear Rita K.: Facet injections may
temporarily improve back and buttock pain due to facet joint
and/or disc disease. For those patients that improve with injections
(usually steroid and a long-acting numbing medicine), facet rhizotomy
is a reasonable procedure to consider. This does not treat the
underlying source of your pain (e.g. facet arthritis or degenerative
disc disease). Rhizotomy deadens nerve fibers that are involved
in the relay of pain signals from the joints in the spine to
the brain. The effects can be long-lasting but the symptoms may
recur as the nerves may regenerate after being deadened by radiofrequency.
This is not the only option. Facet pain or degenerative disc
pain may also respond to more aggressive strategies such as partial
facetectomy (shaving of the joints in surgery), fusion (eliminating
the motion at that joint level in the spine via surgery), or
other techniques. Facet rhizotomy is not a "last" option.
Posted by: Gerald Rodts, M.D. Date Posted - Mar 16 2000