Because you will be lying on your stomach during the procedure and will be uncomfortable if your stomach is too full, it is advisable to limit food intake to a light meal only, up to two hours before the procedure. You should wear comfortable clothes that are easy to remove and leave jewellery at home. Please note that some of the disinfectant agents used during these procedures may stain light-coloured clothing. 

When you make your appointment for the lumbar nerve root sleeve injection, you need to let the radiology clinic or department know if you are taking any blood thinning medication, such as warfarin, clopidogrel, dabigatran, prasugrel, dipyridamole or asasantin (for more information about these medications, go to NPS: http://www.nps.org.au/ medicines). 

Blood thinning medications may need to be stopped for a period of days, or your normal dose reduced, before this procedure is carried out. These drugs are usually prescribed to prevent stroke or heart attack, so it is very important you do not stop stop any of these medications or change the dose without consulting both the radiology clinic or department and your own doctor. They will give you specific instructions about when to stop and restart the medication. Aspirin is usually not stopped. 

A blood test may be required to check your blood clotting on the day of the procedure. Continue with pain medication and other medications as usual. 

You may be monitored for 2–3 hours after the procedure, so please allow for this. You should arrange for someone to take you home after the procedure, as it is not advisable to drive for the rest of the day as you may have numbness, weakness or other temporary side-effects after the procedure.

You may be asked to change into a hospital gown in a changing room. You will be taken from the changing room into the computer tomography (CT) scanning room. You will be asked to lie on the CT scanning table on a thin plastic mattress. Plastic tape with small metal markers attached to it will be taped onto your back. The scanning table will be moved into the scanner and CT images or pictures of your spine will be taken. The tape with the markers is used to mark the spot, or level, in your spine where the needle for the lumbar nerve root sleeve injection will enter the skin. The spot will be marked on your skin with a pen and the tape removed. 

The skin on the back is cleaned with antiseptic, which is usually very cold. The area is then covered with a sterile drape. 

The radiologist (specialist doctor) or other specialist doctor carrying out the procedure will inject local anaesthetic into the skin and deeper tissues in your lower back. This will numb the skin and deeper tissues. This produces a pin prick and a stinging sensation that is uncomfortable for a few seconds. You will be awake and only the area where the lumbar nerve root sleeve injection is being carried out will be numb. 

When the skin and muscles are numb, a thin spinal needle is then guided into place. CT scanning will be used to guide this so the doctor can confirm accurate placement of the needle. 

When the needle is in the correct location, contrast medium (X-ray dye) may be injected to check the needle position. Contrast medium allows the X-ray to show the blood vessels more clearly on the images. A combination of corticosteroid and long-acting local anaesthetic is then injected into the tissue surrounding the nerve root. 

The placement of the needle and injection of contrast into the foramen may produce some discomfort if the foramen is very tight from disc problems or a bony spur compressing the nerve root. The long-acting local anaesthetic very rapidly numbs the nerve. The area of the limb supplied by the nerve being treated goes numb, and the leg or foot may feel ‘dead’ for a while. This can be worrying when it happens, but you should be aware that the feeling and movement will recover soon.

The actual procedure itself takes approximately 15 minutes. You may be monitored after the procedure for 2–3 hours, so please allow for this. Monitoring occurs after the procedure to make sure any numbness, weakness or other temporary side-effects of the procedure have worn off before you go home. You may also have your blood pressure and breathing monitored after the procedure.

1. The leg is usually numb for a period of time. If the anaesthetic spreads into the spinal canal, the opposite leg may also be numb for a period of time (a few minutes to 1–2 hours).
2. There may be an increase in the leg pain when the injection starts, particularly if the root in the foramen is severely compressed. The pain eases off when the anaesthetic spreads around the compressed root.

1. Direct injection into the nerve root, rather than around the root, can produce intense pain. Injection into the root could damage the nerve, resulting in loss of sensation and weakness of the muscle supplied by the nerve in question. Using CT scan images to guide the procedure minimises this risk.
2. Injection of the medication into a surrounding blood vessel may mean the procedure does not work, because the medication has been carried away in the bloodstream.
3. A nerve root sleeve cyst may appear like a disc fragment in the foramen and injecting this cyst can result in headache that lasts for a few days, but is relieved by lying down and taking simple analgesia, such as paracetamol. The leakage of fluid from the cyst is what causes the headache and when this leak seals off (usually after a day or two), the headache will go away. Lying flat in bed and taking plenty of fluids will help the headache and help the tiny leak to seal off more quickly than if you carry out your normal activities.
4. Injection of medication into the fluid sac surrounding the spinal nerves can occur, which causes complete numbness of both legs immediately.
5. Allergic reactions to the local anaesthetic and steroid medication are rare.
6. Infection of the skin and deep tissues is possible, but is rare.
7. Bleeding around the puncture site may compress the nerve root, causing short-term worsening of pain. The pain will decrease when the bleeding or bruise next to the nerve root goes away, but this can take a few days.
8. There are very few reports in the literature of permanent leg weakness and bladder function problems (paraplegia) after this procedure. This rare risk is thought to be caused by unintentional injection of one of the arteries that is a branch of an artery that supplies the spinal cord, and the use of particulate corticosteroids. It is thought that using nonparticulate corticosteroids and checking that the needle is not in a vessel before injecting the steroid medication reduces or eliminates this complication.

Overall, the risks are minimal when carried out by experienced specialist doctors using CT image guidance. Approximately 7 in every 1000 patients will have some type of complication from this procedure and the severe complications (such as permanent nerve root damage) are rare.

The benefits of a lumbar nerve root sleeve injection include temporary or long-term relief of back and nerve root pain. Breaking the pain cycle aids in healing. Pain relief also makes you more comfortable, allowing the disc protrusion to shrink. This may delay or remove the need for surgery.

Your doctor will receive a written report on your test as soon as is practicable.

It is very important that you discuss the results with the doctor who referred you so they can explain what the results mean for you.

Most results are normal. Occasionally, small changes are seen that need further review. 

If your results are normal you will be able to return for routine screening (usually every 2 years). If  your results are uncertain or show changes you may need to consider additional imaging (diagnostic mammogram, ultrasound, or biopsy) in discussion with your referring doctor.