What is a sacroiliac joint injection?
A sacroiliac joint injection is a minimally invasive, outpatient procedure to reduce pain caused by inflamed sacroiliac joints.
The injection contains anti-inflammatory medication (steroid) mixed with a local anesthetic (numbing agent). The numbing agent will provide immediate, though temporary, pain relief while the steroid helps decrease the inflammation that is causing the pain.
What can I expect during the procedure?
You are brought into the procedure room and assisted in a position of lying on your stomach. Your skin will be cleaned at the injection site and a local anesthetic will be applied to numb the skin and tissue near the joint.
The provider uses touch and fluoroscope to guide a needle to the sacroiliac joint. The mixture of steroid and anesthetic is injected into the sacroiliac joint. The needle is then removed, and a bandage is placed over the injection site.
The entire procedure takes about 10 minutes.
What can I expect after the procedure?
You will be monitored for a short time following the procedure, to ensure you have no adverse reactions to the medications. After that, your driver may take you home.
We recommend that you take it easy and avoid applying direct heat to the injection site for the remainder of the day. You may resume normal activities the next day. You may resume your regular diet and medications immediately, unless instructed otherwise by your provider.
You may experience tenderness or aggravated symptoms for several days after the injection as the anesthetic wears off. Apply ice packs to help with this pain. The steroid medication usually reaches full effect within one week.
You should follow-up with your provider two weeks after the injection to assess its effectiveness and determine the next step in your care.
To schedule an appointment with our board-certified pain management specialist in our Pain Clinic to find out if this procedure is right for you, call 320-864-7816.
