Sacroiliac Joint Injection

Am I a good candidate for neuromodulation?

If you have pain from the sacroiliac joint with inflammation, SI joint injection can help relieve your pain.

What to expect?

Your doctor and staff will explain what to expect before, during, and after the treatment. If you want sedation for your procedure, your doctor will advise you to avoid eating or drinking anything for eight hours before the procedure and to have a responsible adult drive you home. You are welcome to do the procedure awake, under local anesthesia if you would prefer. You may need to stop taking certain medicines (blood thinners) several days before your procedure.

All our injections are performed in the sterile operating room using image guidance. You will first be comfortably positioned and monitors to check your vital signs will be placed. Oxygen will be given to you if you get sedation. After a sterile cleaning of the site to be injected, sedation will be given if desired. Then local anesthesia will be used to numb the skin. The needle will be placed using image guidance and confirmed with contrast dye. Medication will then be administered and needles removed. Bandages will be placed and you will be taken to the recovery room until you are ready for discharge home.

Your sacroiliac joints (we call them the "SI" joints) are the places where your hips meet your spine. These joints don't have a lot of flexibility, but they do move slightly as you move your body. And if SI joints become damaged or diseased, it can be painful.

When will I get pain relief?

Typically patients experience pain relief within three to seven days although in some cases it can be up to 14 days. An SI joint injection reduces inflammation in the sacroiliac joint and that may take time to resolve. The amount of relief is dependent upon the amount of inflammation and duration, sometimes it can be complete relief, sometimes a subsequent injection is necessary to achieve more complete relief. The duration of relief depends on multiple factors and varies from person to person. If the sacroiliac joint continues to be painful, there are minimally invasive surgeries to correct the problem.