What is Guided Intervention?

An ultrasound guided intervention is an injection procedure which relieves sudden or ongoing pain and treats swelling. You may get an injection of local anaesthetic, a steroid or a mixture of both into the area that is bothering you. The precise delivery of corticosteroids to the affected area through ultrasound guidance enhances the overall efficacy of the treatment. Ultrasound pictures are used to find the exact location in real time for the injection which significantly reduces the risk of complications associated with traditional blind injections.

Why do I need an Ultrasound Guided Injection?

These injections may be used to:

Relieve pain from some medical conditions (arthritis, tendintis).
Remove fluid from an area near a joint or to stop the fluid from coming back.
Manage pain before surgery.
Manage pain if you are not medically able to have surgery

Autologous Blood Injection

An Autologus Blood Injection is a recent medical procedure whereby a patient’s blood is injected into an area of the body for the purposes of healing. It is most commonly used to treat degeneration of tendons, which may occur in association with small tears. This disorder of tendons is frequently referred to as “tendinitis” by the public, however is known as tendinosis or tendinopathy in the medical profession.

The procedure is usually performed under ultrasound control by a radiologist. The injection of blood contains small cells called platelets, which contain platelet derived growth factor. This substance is thought to promote tendon healing. A variation on the technique is Platelet Rich Plasma(PRP), which is where the whole blood removed from the patient is spun in a centrifuge, separating the cells of the blood. As such a higher concentration of platelets is delivered into the tissue for healing. As yet, there has been no study to demonstrate that a PRP injection is superior to ABI, with both techniques demonstrating improvement in 70-80% of patients.