In this segment of Ask Dr. Tollestrup he addresses the importance of accuracy in the nerve block to diagnose Piriformis Syndrome. If the injection is off even by a little it can impact the value of the diagnosis. Join us Wednesday October 26th at 12 pm PST for a Facebook Live session where Dr. Tollestrup addresses many of the questions submitted.
Question: “Is it possible for a piriformis injection to give a false positive if the surrounding muscles and the posterior femoral cutaneous nerve become unintentionally bathed in the 10 ccs of Lidocaine (the local anesthetic being used)?” Answer: “The answer is yes especially when you’re dealing with posterior pelvic pain buttock pain and sciatica type pain it’s important to be as specific and accurate with your blocks as possible. You don’t want to use steroid because that can affect you know everything in the area and when you’re talking about a piriformis injection specifically, you don’t want it spilling onto the sciatic nerve or the posterior femoral cutaneous nerve because that can make things feel better. Then you’re degrading the diagnostic value. You want that local medicine right into the piriformis muscle and nowhere else.”
To reach Dr. Tollestrup contact https://nevadanervesurgery.org/contact-us/ or email patients@tollestrupmd.com