Trial injection

You suffer from pain in your back, legs or joints but the underlying cause of the pain isn’t clear. This is why your medical practitioner has proposed you undergo a trial injection with local anaesthetic. This page further outlines what this treatment entails

Treatment objective

The objective of the trial injection is to find the painful structure, which can be a:

• Facet joint
• SI joint
• Nerve root
• Intervertebral disc
• Other joints such as the hip, shoulder, wrist, or ankle

By administering a trial injection the medical practitioner can make a better diagnose which in turn means you’ll receive the correct treatment.

Treatment

Depending on which structure is injected, you will either lie on your front or back. Under x-ray control the medical practitioner inserts a needle into the area to be examined. Then a contrast agent is injected to see if the fluid actually remains around the structure to be examined. This is followed by an injection with a small quantity of local anaesthetic (Xylocaine 2%).
The medical practitioner will ask you if the pain has disappeared or not. It may be necessary to repeat this process one or several times, until the underlying cause of the pain has been found. 

Treatment duration

The treatment duration depends on how soon the painful structure is found.

General information

For further information about potential side effects and risks, and for other instructions we kindly ask you to read through the “your visit” and “after your treatment” information provided to you.