Selective Nerve Root Block Injection
A selective nerve root block (SNRB) injection or just nerve block injection is used to both diagnose and treat an inflamed spinal nerve. A medication, typically, an anesthetic or anesthetic with steroid is administered near the spinal nerve as it exits the intervertebral foramen (bony opening between adjacent vertebrae). The medication reduces inflammation and numbs the pain transmitted by the nerve.
Nerve root blocks aim to anesthetize the desired nerve for diagnostic purposes, and steroids are used in an attempt to produce long-term relief, primarily in patients with radiculopathy.
