Discography

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• QHow should I prepare for discography?

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  A Intermountain Registered Dietitians , Nutrition & Dietetics, answered on behalf of Intermountain Healthcare

  Follow these steps to help your diskography go better:
   

  • Food and drink. You should not eat solid food after midnight the night before the procedure.
  • Medication list. Bring a list of all your current medications with you to the hospital. This includes over-the-counter medications and vitamins. You may be asked to stop taking blood-thinning medication, such as Coumadin.
  • Current medical condition. You may need to fill out some paperwork, including a consent form. Be sure to tell your doctor about any history of allergic reaction to medications or x-ray dye, any medical conditions such as diabetes, and any infection that may be at the injection site.
• QHow should I manage pain after discography?

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  A Intermountain Registered Dietitians , Nutrition & Dietetics, answered on behalf of Intermountain Healthcare

  For the first day or so after diskography, you may want to use ice on the injected area for 20 to 30 minutes at a time, but be careful not to apply ice to bare skin. If the intravenous (IV) site is painful, place warm towels on it for 20 minutes several times a day.
• QWhat are alternatives to discography?

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  A Intermountain Registered Dietitians , Nutrition & Dietetics, answered on behalf of Intermountain Healthcare

  Diskography is usually used after other diagnostic tests. Alternatives to diskography include:

  • Physical examination
  • X-rays, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) scans

  Your doctor may also recommend doing surgery without first doing diskography.
• QWhen should I call my doctor after discography?

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  A Intermountain Registered Dietitians , Nutrition & Dietetics, answered on behalf of Intermountain Healthcare

  After diskography, contact your doctor if:
   

  • You see signs of infection at the injection site, such as increasing redness or warmth
  • You have increasing pain after the procedure that is not relieved by pain medication
• QWhat is the reason for undergoing discography?

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  A Intermountain Registered Dietitians , Nutrition & Dietetics, answered on behalf of Intermountain Healthcare

  The vertebrae (bones) in your spine are separated by disks that cushion the vertebrae and allow them to move freely. If a disk is damaged, it can develop small tears in the outer ring (annulus). Material from the inside (nucleus) can then leak out and irritate the surrounding nerves. This sometimes causes pain in your back or neck.
  
  While other tests can show if a disk is torn, they often can't show whether the torn disk is the cause of your pain. Diskography can help your doctor know more about where the pain is coming from. This helps your doctor know whether you need surgery and which disks might need it.
• QWhat are the possible complications of discography?

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  A Intermountain Registered Dietitians , Nutrition & Dietetics, answered on behalf of Intermountain Healthcare

  Complications of diskography are rare but can include:

  • Infection of the disk space (fewer than 1 in 400 cases). Despite using antibiotics and careful sterile techniques, there is a small risk of developing an infection in an injected disk. This will be treated with additional antibiotics.
  • Persistent or increased pain. Because the procedure triggers pain to help diagnose its source, you may have increased pain for a time.
  • Allergic reaction or skin irritation. Rarely, patients are allergic to the injected x-ray dye. Others can experience redness or itching at the injection sites.
  • Nerve complications. In very rare cases, the procedure can result in nerve root irritation or injury, or in injection of dye into the sac surrounding the spinal cord. This could result in numbness, pain, or neurological changes.
• QCan I drive myself home after discography?

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  A Intermountain Registered Dietitians , Nutrition & Dietetics, answered on behalf of Intermountain Healthcare

  You will not be allowed to drive yourself home after diskography. Someone needs to drive you home. Don't drive at all on the day of the procedure. Your doctor will likely allow you to resume driving the next day.
• QWhat happens after discography?

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  A Intermountain Registered Dietitians , Nutrition & Dietetics, answered on behalf of Intermountain Healthcare

  After diskography:

  • You may stay in a recovery area and have your vital signs (heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate) monitored.
  • You should be able to walk after the procedure, and you will most likely will be able to go home that day.
• QWhat happens during discography?

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  A Intermountain Healthcare answered

  The diskography procedure takes 30 to 60 minutes, and you will be awake and able to communicate the entire time. Your procedure will include the following:
  

  • Monitoring. You may have monitoring devices attached to you to check your heart rate and breathing.
  • Sedative. You may be given a sedative to help you relax.
  • Local anesthetic. You'll be given a local anesthetic near the injection site to numb the skin.
  • Injection. For each injection, a needle will be inserted into the disk and inject x-ray dye.
  • Fluoroscopic (x-ray) guidance. Fluoroscopic x-rays will be used to make sure the needle is in the best position. They will also be used to identify whether x-ray dye leaks out of the disk.
  • Pain description. For each disk injected, you will be asked to describe your pain. A damaged disk will cause temporary pain when injected. It is important to describe the pain -- where it is, how strong it is, and if it feels like the pain you've been experiencing. Your descriptions for each injection will help the doctor identify which disk or disks are the source of your pain.
  • Computed tomography (CT) scan. When the injections are finished, a CT scan may be used to get a more detailed picture of whether disks are leaking x-ray dye and how much.
• QWhat is discography?

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  A Intermountain Registered Dietitians , Nutrition & Dietetics, answered on behalf of Intermountain Healthcare

  Discography is a procedure used to diagnose whether your neck or back pain is caused by damaged disks in your spine. A doctor injects x-ray dye into several disks to see whether one or more disks are leaking and causing pain. As each disk is injected, you report to your doctor whether you feel pain and the type and severity of any pain. These descriptions help your doctor diagnose the source of pain.

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