A number of conditions or injury can cause lower back pain and pain running down the back to the lower extremities. In order to relieve this pain, your doctor may recommend a Caudal Epidural Steroid Injection, an injection of steroid medication administered through the bony opening in your tailbone.

The procedure is performed on an outpatient basis under sedation for your comfort and usually takes between 15 to 20 minutes.

Lying face down on a table, the skin is cleaned and numbed with local anesthetic. Your physician uses a fluoroscopic X-ray machine to help guide the needle to the targeted area. Steroid medications work by decreasing the inflammation that is causing the pain.

The medication is injected and the needle is removed. After the procedure, you will be monitored for 15 to 30 minutes as you recover from the sedation. You will need someone to drive you home.

Your pain may return as the anesthetic wears off while the steroid medication takes 24 to 48 hours to begin to relieve the pain. The effects from the injections vary from patient to patient, but can last several months or longer. If effective, the procedure can usually be repeated.*

* Individual results may vary.