Re: Pain Clinics/injections/

[Guest guest]

> I received my very 1st coccyx block on the 4th of November and I have been

miserable since the procedure was done. The doctor who did it was methodical and

very detailed in her work making sure I did receive some anesthesia in the

cocktail injection.

,

They put a needle up through my coccyx in the Rauz procedure:

Racz Procedure: Peridural Adhesiolysis

Scar tissue in the epidural space can cause intractable pain.

One treatment is the Racz procedure, in which a wire catheter is placed through

the tailbone and advanced into the caudal canal and into the lumbar epidural

space where most scar tissue exists after surgery.

Another approach uses the same wire catheter, but uses a lateral approach,

through the side of the spine. The plastic sheath demonstrated above is placed

initially through the tailbone with the wire inserted through its center. The

tip of the wire is soft in order to avoid injuring nerve tissue, but is firm

enough to help lyse (cut) scar tissue.

Once the scar tissue is cut or channels cut through the scar tissue with the

wire catheter, hyaluronidase (an enzyme), and hypertonic saline (pain reliever

and used to help dissolve scar tissue) are injected followed by steroids. Many

procedures are performed over a 3 day period with another injection of materials

through the catheter each day.

Overall, the results are good, but the relief is transient (weeks, months).

Repeat procedures are possible intermittently. The Navicath system is a stiffer

guidable catheter which may have advantages over the Racz wire catheter system.

It was released in the US in September 2001 and serves as an intermediate step

between the Racz system and epiduroscopy.

The complications of either system are bleeding, infection, rare nerve injury,

etc.

So watch out for that one also.

Bennie