What are medial branch nerves and why are medial branch blocks beneficial
Medial branch nerves are the tiny nerve branches that let people feel pain from the facet joints. Facet Joints are pairs of small joints between the vertebrae and the back of the spine. Medial branch nerves do not have control over any sensation or muscle in your arms and legs.
What will happen to me during the injection?
Once you have laid down on the x-ray table, the physician will then proceed to clean your skin thoroughly. Once the skin has been cleansed, a numbing medicine will be applied to a small area of skin which may slightly sting. Next, the physician will maneuver a tiny needle over the medial branch nerves through the use of fluoroscope (x-ray) guidance. Lastly, the physician will inject a small amount of numbing and steroid medicine over the nerves. The full procedure is painless as well as quick and more comfortable than facet joint injections.
What should I do after the injection?
Once the procedure is complete, you will try to spend the next 15-20 minutes provoking the pain you felt before. Our physicians, Leovigildo Reyes, MD, Lawrence Eppelbaum, MD and Hamid Tehrani, MD practicing in Atlanta, Georgia will be available to answer your questions and symptoms over the phone and you can report the percentage of pain relief you believe to have received. For at least eight hours after the procedure has been completed, try not to operate any heavy machinery.
General Pre/Post Instructions
Two hours before the procedure, try to eat a light meal. Do not alter your regular food intake if you happen to be an insulin dependent diabetic. Proceed with taking your daily routine medications such as diabetes medications and high blood pressure medications. One day before the procedure, do not take aspirin and any anti-inflammatory drugs (E.G., Motrin/Ibuprofen, Relafen, Daypro, Aleve). You may continue taking these medications 24 hours after your procedure. If you are prescribed pain medicine, you may take it as needed before/after the procedure. Contact our clinic ahead of time if you are taking herapin, Xeralto, Plavix, Ticlid, Coumadin, lovenox or other blood thinning medications so that we may inform you of the timing of stopping these medications. We will not proceed with the procedure if you have a fever or an active infection. Contact someone reliable who may be able to drive you, though in majority of cases patients can drive car themself after 30 minutes after procedure. 24 hours after the procedure you may once again continue with your normal daily activates, including going to work.