Lumbar Discography

If your current treatment of chronic pain isn’t effective, a lumbar discography could provide insight into the source of your pain. At Commonwealth Pain & Spine, with offices in Kentucky and Indiana, the board-certified pain management team offers in-office lumbar discography services to determine if damaged vertebral discs are causing chronic pain. Find out if you’re a candidate for a lumbar discography by calling the office nearest you today. Commonwealth’s Kentucky offices are in St. Matthews, Elizabethtown, Lexington, Crestview Hills, Owensboro, and London. Indiana offices are in Evansville, Vincennes, New Albany, Carrollton, and Jasper. They also serve patients from Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio.

What is a Lumbar Discography?

Lumbar discography is a diagnostic procedure that can identify damaged spinal discs as the cause of your chronic back pain. Disc damage can be the result of an injury to the spine or due to an underlying disease like osteoarthritis or degenerative disc disease.

During a discography, your Commonwealth Pain & Spine doctor injects a sterile liquid to trigger pain in the damaged discs. The doctor uses fluoroscopy, a live X-ray technology, during the injections to ensure the needles are in the right place.

Following each injection into the disc, your doctor will ask you to rate your pain level to determine which discs are responsible for your pain.

In some cases, your Commonwealth Pain & Spine doctor will inject a contrast dye into your discs to evaluate the discs’ health. In a healthy disc, the contrast dye stays in the center of the disc. When injected into a damaged disc, the dye can spread to the outer part of the disc.

Why Would I Need a Lumbar Discography?

Lumbar discography is a specific diagnostic service to identify disc problems when conservative treatments of chronic back pain haven’t been successful. Rarely is this type of testing used in the early stages of a diagnosis.

In many cases, you will undergo a lumbar discography after you experience 4-6 months of chronic back pain not related to an injury or underlying disease.

Your Commonwealth Pain & Spine provider could recommend a lumbar discography to help them create a plan for treating pain more effectively or to help them determine if and when surgery is necessary.

How Do I Prepare for a Lumbar Discography?

Lumbar discography is a surgical procedure and you can expect to receive a light sedative to keep you comfortable. Your Commonwealth Pain & Spine surgeon provides you with full instructions for preparing for the procedure during your consultation, including instructions to not eat before your appointment.

Following your discography, your doctor reviews the results and can then discuss your options for treatment. You can go home to rest and might need to avoid strenuous activities for the rest of the day, depending on how well you tolerated the procedure.

If you’ve been dealing with chronic, unexplained back pain, find out if you’re a good candidate for a lumbar discography by calling the office nearest you today.