Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 21, 2026

Spinal Sonography for Ultrasound-Guided Lumbar Neuraxial Anesthesia
Published on: January 31, 2025
Is immediate pain relief after a spinal injection procedure enhanced by intravenous sedation?
Paul Dreyfuss1, Steven Cohen, Allen Sinclair Chen
1Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington, Bellevue, WA 98004, USA. pauldreyfuss@gmail.com
Objective:
To determine the effect of intravenous sedation on postprocedural pain relief for patients undergoing a spinal injection procedure in which there is no expectation of immediate relief.
Design:
A prospective audit to compare Visual Analog Scale (VAS) responses before and after interlaminar epidural corticosteroid injections without epidural anesthetic in those who did and did not receive intravenous sedation.
Setting:
This audit was undertaken in 2 interventional spine practices.
Patients:
A total of 102 patients were allotted to receive or not receive intravenous sedation depending on preference.
Interventions:
Interlaminar epidural injections of corticosteroid without epidural anesthetic.
Main Outcome Measurements:
Outcomes were measured by mean (VAS) scores after the procedure and mean VAS differences before and after the procedure.
Results:
There were no significant differences between mean VAS scores or mean differences in VAS scores between those who did or did not receive intravenous sedation. A relatively high percentage of patients in both groups obtained greater than 50% immediate pain relief.
Conclusion:
Intravenous mild or moderate conscious sedation did not have an effect on postprocedural VAS pain scores in those receiving a therapeutic spinal injection procedure. Immediate pain relief was most likely the result of nonspecific effects.
Related Concept Videos
Parenteral Anesthetics: Overview
Local Anesthetics: Clinical Application as Spinal Anesthesia
Drug Delivery: Parenteral Route
There are three primary parenteral routes: intravenous (IV), intramuscular (IM), and subcutaneous (SC). The IV route introduces the drug directly into the bloodstream, ensuring immediate action. The IM route...
Local Anesthetics: Clinical Application as Epidural Anesthesia
Since epidural anesthetics can be infused through an epidural catheter, all types of drugs, including short-acting ones, can be administered. Chloroprocaine and lidocaine are examples of short and long-duration anesthetics, respectively. Bupivacaine...
Local Anesthetics: Clinical Application as Intravenous Regional Anesthesia
One of the advantages of...
Skeletal Muscle Relaxants: Therapeutic Uses
