Lumbar Discography (Discogram)

Firstly before I go into detail about this it must be said that if you research the Internet you will find many varied responses from specialists regarding this procedure and most class this procedure as a controversial one. This is taken from one website;

• The protagonists of discography believe the information gleaned from this examination is unobtainable any other way.


• The procedure’s antagonists feel the responses evoked from disc pressurization are not useful in evaluating back pain patients.
  

What is a Discogram?

A discogram is a study in which radioopaque dye is injected into the disk space. This is both an anatomical study as well as a functional study. It looks at the anatomy of the disk space, and can show when dye leaks through rents in the annulus fibrosis. But just as or even more important, it is a functional test. When the physician injects dye into the disk space, the patient reports, on a scale from 1 to 10, how much pain has been produced. If the pressure injection of dye into the disk space reproduces the patients usual low back pain, then surgical fusion of the disk space may have some benefit in improving the pain. As far as the low back team knows, it is the only test in which we hope a patient has significant pain, because that means the disk is likely a cause of the pain, and surgical fusion may help. This is usually a method of last resort, after all else has failed.

The Procedure

This is the procedure that I underwent and may be somewhat different for you but will give the basic outlines.

Firstly I will tell you the procedure is very uncomfortable and painful. I was laid on my side with my lumbar region exposed. I was given a sedative but you are very much aware of what is happening. An X ray machine was used so that the correct disk space can be obtained and the radiopaque dye can be injected into the disk space. This will create pain and indicate whether the disk is the problem and if surgery will help. Unfortunately in my case it did not create anymore pain. I also had 24 hours bed rest after this procedure which is the normal aftercare.

The picture below shows the needle entering the disc space

The Risks

As with any procedure there are risks but the main risk here is infection of the disk and the injection area and possible bruising of the injection site. As it replicates the pain obviously there may be some aggravated sides like the ones you experience with your normal daily pain.

My Opinion

This did not work for me at all and I found it very uncomfortable. If you can get away without having this done go for that option. Before even contemplating this all I would say is exhaust the other options first.