A Joint Pain Injection is a minimally invasive procedure in which a physician uses fluoroscopy or CT image guidance to precisely administer an injection of medication into a joint to provide pain relief.

A joint pain injection is performed to:

• Reduce inflammation
• Provide pain relief
• Help patients tolerate physical therapy or other rehabilitative exercises
• Help physicians determine the cause of the pain

Image-guided, minimally invasive procedures such as joint pain injections are most often performed on an outpatient basis by an interventional radiologist.

The area of your body where the needle is to be inserted will be sterilized and covered with a surgical drape. Your physician will numb the area with a local anesthetic. Guided by real-time x-ray images or CT, the physician will insert the needle through the skin and into the joint being treated. A small amount of contrast material may be injected to confirm that the needle is inside the joint. Once confirmed, a small mixture of anesthetic (such as lidocaine) and anti-inflammatory medication (steroid/cortisone) is slowly injected into the joint.

The entire procedure is usually completed within 30 minutes.

– courtesy RadiologyInfo.org