Spinal Needle Back Pain

Spinal blocks (or spinal anesthesia) and epidural steroid injections are just a few of the procedures involving a needle injected into the spine. Whether spinal needles cause long-lasting back pain is up for debate, but what is certain is that procedures involving spinal needles are an effective treatment for many with lower back pain and sciatica. When serious back pain is associated with spinal needles, studies suggest there may be other factors at play.

Common Side Effects

• Perhaps the most common side effect of a spinal needle procedure is a spinal headache, which usually improves after a few days. When a spinal needle is used to inject an epidural steroid to treat lower back pain, some patients experience pain localized in that area before symptoms improve. Doctors advise that this increased pain can last as long as ten days following an injection.

Paresthesia and Spinal Needles

• Data that appeared in the 2009 American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine journal indicated that paresthesia can occur when a spinal needle makes contact with the root of a spinal nerve. Paresthesia is defined as a burning, prickling or tingling, and it may be reported as pain by patients.

Needle Type May Make All the Difference

• A study that appeared in the December 2008 issue of Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica compared the effects of two different types of needles on 200 healthy patients between the ages of 15 and 46. Their results indicated the 24 G Sprotte needle caused a significantly larger proportion of patients to experience back pain than did the 227G Quincke needle.

Needle Contents and Pain

• A 1998 study conducted by the Cornell University Department of Anesthesia looked at needle contents and drew some interesting conclusions. Their study indicated back and leg pain occurred within days after spinal anaesthesia when needles contained between two percent and five percent lidocaine, and in much lower incidences with other local anesthetics like bupivacaine and tetracaine. The study also suggested that this back pain could also occur with just 1.5 percent mepivacaine in the needle.

Spinal Needles Help More Than They Hurt

• Even though spinal needles may have side effects that may include back pain, a 2001 study that appeared in the British Journal of Anaesthesia suggests the procedure is worth the risk when it comes to alleviating chronic back pain. Significant back pain post-needle was almost exclusively associated with preexisting back pain, and new back pain onset was rare. An article on spinaldiagnostics.com concurs, claiming patients have a 50/50 chance of getting relief from spinal needle procedures.