Ultrasound-guided injection
What does an ultrasound-guided injection involve?
Ultrasound-guided injection means that we combine the advantages of ultrasound diagnostics and injections. Once we have identified the affected area with ultrasound, we insert the needle. In real time, we can then see the needle and guide it into the correct area before injecting the preparation. We verify the position of the injection needle with an image that is saved.
Physiotherapist giving injections?
Traditionally, it is doctors who give injections. In this case, it is the ultrasound knowledge that is important, not the profession of the person in question. Being able to understand and interpret the structures we see is crucial for a safe and precise injection. Ricardo, who carries out this with us, has a degree in diagnostic ultrasound. Further training in ultrasound-guided injections has since been completed in England. Ricardo has many years of experience in both ultrasound diagnostics and ultrasound-guided injections.
Why ultrasound-guided injection?
Traditionally, injections are given without being able to verify whether, or how much of the preparation has ended up in the intended place. With the help of ultrasound, we see where the needle tip is and can ensure that it is in the right place, before the medicine is delivered. In other words, we can give injections with much greater precision than is possible without guidance with ultrasound diagnostics. In this way, the risk of affecting/damaging surrounding structures is minimized.
What types of injections do we perform?
The injections we perform are performed for diagnostic or therapeutic reasons. If there is uncertainty about which structure is causing pain, Lidocaine (pain relief) can be injected into the suspected structure. If the pain decreases, it is likely that we have found the right one and can initiate appropriate treatment. Ultrasound-guided injections are also used for therapeutic purposes. In this case, cortisone in combination with pain relief is injected to relieve pain and reduce inflammation.
For which diagnoses are ultrasound-guided injections used?
-Bursitis: Irritated mucous sacs (bursae) in, for example, the shoulder, elbow, outer hip, knee or at the Achilles tendon.
-Calcification in tendons: The most common is what is called a calcification shaft.
-Capsulitis: The most common location is the shoulder joint and is also called frozen shoulder. Capsulitis can also occur in most other joints.
-We can also, with the guidance of ultrasound diagnostics, remove synovial fluid from a swollen joint (aspirate the joint), for example the knee.
When do we recommend injection?
If the pain is significant for the patient and we can determine that it is most likely coming from an injectable structure, then we can give an injection at an initial stage of contact.
More commonly, however, the patient has undergone treatment, but the symptoms persist. The patient then comes to us for ultrasound diagnostics and a decision on a possible injection. Symptoms, history and report from the treating healthcare provider are then weighed against findings made with ultrasound diagnostics before an injection is performed.
Side effects that may occur with cortisone injections:
-About 25% have a reaction to the cortisone, which causes harmless, local pain in the injected area that lasts for around 48 hours.
-If you have a darker skin tone, there is a risk that the cortisone will cause a change in skin color in the injection area. To minimize the risk of this, we change the needle we use to draw up the preparation to a new one before the injection.
-If the patient has diabetes, the cortisone can affect the blood sugar balance for a couple of weeks.
-As soon as you break the skin in any way, for example with injections, there is a risk of infection. With the procedure we use before and during the injection, the risk of infection is about 1 in 10,000 injections.
Ultrasound-guided injection
Price: 1890 SEK
