Caudal Steroid Injection

This out­pa­tient pro­ce­dure is an injec­tion of a steroid-anes­thet­ic med­ica­tion through an open­ing in the sacrum. The med­ica­tion can reduce swelling and inflam­ma­tion of irri­tat­ed spinal nerves. The injec­tion takes only a few min­utes to com­plete. In prepa­ra­tion for the pro­ce­dure, the patient lies face down. A cush­ion is placed under the abdomen to ele­vate the sacrum. The physi­cian admin­is­ters a local anes­thet­ic to numb the skin and the tis­sue above the small open­ing at the base of the sacrum. This open­ing is called the sacral hia­tus. When the area is numb, the physi­cian guides a nee­dle through the sacral hia­tus and into the cau­dal epidur­al space. This is the open space in the sacrum where the irri­tat­ed nerve roots are locat­ed. The physi­cian injects con­trast solu­tion through the nee­dle. The physi­cian uses a flu­o­ro­scope (a type of x‑ray device) to con­firm that the tip of the nee­dle is posi­tioned cor­rect­ly with­in the epidur­al space. After the needle’s posi­tion has been con­firmed, the physi­cian injects a steroid-anes­thet­ic med­ica­tion. This med­ica­tion bathes the irri­tat­ed nerve roots. It will help alle­vi­ate the patien­t’s pain. When the pro­ce­dure is com­plete, the physi­cian removes the nee­dle and ban­dages the inser­tion site. The patient may feel sig­nif­i­cant relief after one injec­tion. Some patients may need mul­ti­ple injec­tions before they feel the full ben­e­fit of the medication.

Click here to review an illus­tra­tion of the Cau­dal Steroid Injec­tion pro­ce­dure.
(Infor­ma­tion obtained from www​.viewmed​ica​.com 2012 Swarm Interactive).