An image guided lumbar epidural corticosteroid injection is the accurate placement of a very thin needle, at a given level in this space, under guidance with CT or X-ray images or pictures to inject corticosteroid and usually a long-acting local anaesthetic. The most common reason for your doctor to recommend this procedure is severe or prolonged back pain that may or may not go down into your leg or buttock on one or both sides. This procedure is most suitable for people whose back pain is a result of disc or facet joint problems related to ageing and arthritis. It is not recommended for back pain as a result of other causes, such as cancer in the spine or infection. For this reason, it is usual that you will have a CT or MRI scan of the spine to ensure that there is no cause other than age-related changes in the discs and facet joints to explain your back pain.

To discuss this treatment/investigation, please book an appointment with our specialists.

To learn more, please click on https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2680558/