Discography / Stem Cell Injection
The purpose of Lumbar discography is to Identify if one of the lumbar discs is the source of the pain being experienced by the patient. Lumbar discography is indicated as a diagnostic maneuver in a carefully selected subset of patients suffering from back and lumbar radicular pain.
Patients who may benefit from discography include:
- Persistent back pain in which traditional diagnostic modalities failed to delineate a cause of the pain. (MRI, CT scan, EMG, etc.)
- To identify if disc bulges are responsible for the pain.
- Patients who are to undergo lumbar fusion, where discography may help identify which levels need to be fused.
- Patients who had previously undergone fusion, where discography may help identify whether levels above or below the fusion are responsible for persistent pain.
- Patients with recurrent disc herniation cannot be separated from scar tissue with traditional imaging techniques.
As dye is injected into the disc, the pressure increases which will elicit the patients pain if the disc is compromised. The dye may also leak outside the disc demonstrating a tear or fissure within the disc fibers. The pain should again be remedied after injection with anesthetic.
If the disc is found to be compromised or the source of the patients pain then Autologus Mesenchymal Stem Cells can be injected into the disc to aid the body in repairing the disc.
