Mr Fagan performed this procedure successfully today for one of his patients.It is a relatively new but well researched operation for helping otherwise untreatable or severe and persistent pain coming from the sacro-iliac joints.
The operation is perfomed through a 2-3cm incision under X-ray guidance using minimal access surgery. Approximately 70-90 patients a year see Mr Fagan with severe sacro-iliac joint pain, which presents as low back and/or buttock pain, and often confuses people about where it is coming from. It can also radiate from the back around toward the groin or down the back of the thigh, rather like sciatica.The diagnosis is made with some straightforward examination tests in the clinic and confirmed with a diagnostic injection with a tiny needle to the joint itself under local anaesthesia. The good news is that the injections themselves are a very successful form of treatment, with only 10% or so of people needing to consider an operation to help.
