How to Choose Minimally Invasive Procedures for Low Back Pain:

Epidural Steroid Injections: Injecting steroids into the epidural space to reduce inflammation and pain. The is to relieve the pain from inside of spine.
Medial Branch Nerve Block: Injecting an anesthetic near the nerves that supply the facet joints to diagnose and treat pain. And then Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA): Using heat to disrupt pain signals from the medial branch nerves for longer-term relief. This is to relieve the pain from outside of spine. Facet joint injection has similar effects.
Disc-FX Procedure: Disc-FX® is performed using x-ray guidance to accurately place the Disc-FX® System into the disc and precisely treated disc conditions and then removed. As a result, disc pressure is reduced, which eases symptoms. This is to relieve the pain from disc.

In summary, we do epidural steroid injection if we think the low back pain and/or sciatic pain comes from inside of spine, i.e. epidural space. We do medial branch nerve block and radiofrequency ablation or facet joint injection if we think the pain comes from outside of spine, i.e. facet joints. We do Disc-FX if we think the low back pain comes from disc itself.

Commonly, we do epidural steroid injection if patient has low back pain and the pain radiates down the leg and we do medial branch nerve block and radiofrequency for just low back pain secondary to facet joint arthritis. We do Disc-FX if the epidural steroid injection and medical branch nerve block does not work.

For more information, please go to this website: Disc-FX® | Minimally Invasive Spine & Herniated Disc Tool