Sacroiliac Joint Steroid Injection - Click HERE for Brochure
This procedure is used to treat patients suffering from pain in their sacroiliac joint (SI joint). It is also used as a diagnostic tool in that it helps therapists locate the source of pain that may or may not be emanating from the SI joint.
The SI joints, which are in your lower back, connect your spine to the pelvis, and thus, the entire lower half of the skeleton. Although these joints are small and don't move very much, they perform a critical role in the body. They help absorb all of the damaging shock forces of the upper body before balancing and transmitting their weight to the hips and legs. When these joints become inflamed or irritated, they may cause pain in the lower back, buttocks, abdomen, groin or legs.
A SI joint injection involves placing numbing and steroidal medicine into the irritated joint or joints. The amount of immediate pain relief experienced will help confirm or rule out the joint as the source of pain.
Information for Patients
Along with steroidal medications such as Depomedrol or Kenalog, numbing medications similar to ones used in dentists' offices are injected into the SI joints during this procedure. These injections usually take anywhere from a half an hour to an hour to complete.
If your procedure is scheduled in the morning, please don't drink any liquids or eat any solid foods after midnight. If your injection is scheduled in the afternoon, you may have water or apple juice that morning, up to two hours before the procedure
