By design....yes.

Mine was the worst pain I'd ever had, but it was worth it to identify which disk was causing my back pain. The neurologist could not proceed with surgery without figuring out which disk to remove and therefore at which level to perform the fusion. Fortunately, the pain only lasted a day or so and then it was just a matter of alternating rest and moving around. You will be put on antibiotics first and be given good pain meds to deal with the aftermath. Best of luck to you, and remember, it's worth going through it.

I had discogram done before my surgery to find where to remove bad disc. They tested L3 L4 and L5. On pain it was not that bad.(done april 2010) Had epidural injection done on back no sedation that hurt much worse then discogram. Had epidural injection on back with sedation much better. It depends what meds they give you. During discogram they gave me twilight meds, still awake but relaxed feeling good.

Hope this helps

I am a workers comp case. I like the surgeon I am seeing. He told me I need a discogram before he can get a disc replacement/fusion. I have a high tolerance for pain but I am pretty worried. Seems like no matter what, all my choices involve pain.

I am scheduled to have a diskogram on april 26th. I am scared to death I had a hyde scan done on my gallbladder(I thought that was painful, i cried during the whole test) I am sceduled for lumbar disk surgery, they are doing the disogram to see if they are replacing 2 or 3 disks. I see that some of the entries talk about iv medication afterward, Is this for pain. They are sending me to have a ct scan after the diskogram.

Any answers are greatfully welcome.

I have had three discos. Not fun. Each time, the surgeon said the ins. company requested it before approving the surgery. The first two were done with mild IV sedation. I forget what it was right now. It most certainly hurt like crazy when he hit the "hot" disc but it somehow didn't matter so much. I was awake and do remember saying something uncomplimentary about his manhood. The third one was done with a local only. Perhaps he thought I would get mouthy again. It was supposed to be a two level procedure.....the suspected bad disc and a control level. It turned out being a four level procedure as I ended up with three bad levels not one. I bounced all over the table and woke up the next morning with a spinal leak. That put me in the hospital for 36 hours as it took three seperate blood patches. I know that last experience is the exception, not the rule but I can assure you that I would never permit anyone to do another discogram w/o mild IV sedation. Best wishes.

I had a discogram before my back fusion, as the insurance company required it as proof that my disk was causing the pain. It was not fun, and it was probably worse than any of the usual spinal injections I had gone through, but mostly it was just because I was scared and did not know what to expect. The worst part was probably laying there with the 3 needles sticking out of my back and just knowing they were there, even though I couldn't see them (and probably just as well that i couldn't) but the only painful part was when they injected stuff into the disks. The ones that were not bad just felt this pressure sensation, and the one that was bad as soon as he injected into that I immediately felt my usual pain and kind of jerked and gasped at that, and then he stopped putting stuff into it. i just remember having to lie there with the needles in my back for a while, since they were doing fluoroscopy scans, etc. The most pain I felt the whole time was at the very end- they had this weird needle in my back that may have been the original guiding one, but it had these little balls every few cm all along it, and when they inserted it i would feel this popping sensation when those balls would go through whatever they went through. At the very end he gave me this massive pain shot in my butt, and then pulled that needle out in one yank and I felt this pop-pop-pop-pop and yelled from the pain, but it was over before I knew it. Afterwards I was not in any more pain than after a spinal injection. And they were very liberal with the pain meds and with the sedation throughout the test, so again, it was not pleasant, i would not want to do it again, but I was much more scared of having it then it really warranted. I have never had a myelogram, but I would imagine one of those would probably be worse. Anyone out there about to have one of these, don't let the pain stories scare you too bad, and just breathe and know you can get through it and it will be over with and then you are smooth sailing from there. And as far as the worst pain I ever felt- that was after my back fusion- no question. After that surgery I totally started doing those 1-10 pain scales differently- I had not had any idea what 10 was until after my fusion. Of course, i was on so much pain medicine before the surgery that there was really no way they could touch my pain, so do not take my story to mean all fusions are that bad.

before my first surgory at levels 5/6 6/7 i to was recommended and had the discogram prosedure as my docotor told me it would show any and EXACTLY what discs needed to be adressed to answer your ? it was painful the first 3 needles at the 3 levels weren't that bad 6/7 there were difficulties and after 4 tries were not successful inserting the needles were it needed to be but the prosedure does help the surgone pinpoint problematic areas...........good luck

I read a post here that said a discogram is a waste of time. If you are in pain and facing a possible spinal fusion, I cannot stress enough how important that test is.

Yes, X-rays, MRI's, CT Scans etc. are usaual tests performed in trying to diagnose the source of back pain. I had severe lower back pain that radiated down my leg. The MRI showed a ruptured L5S1 disc and I had a discogram whick showed pain was not coming from the other discs around it and then I had a discectomy to repair it and was free of pain after. 1 1/2 yrs later, the same pain was back and the MRI again showed, and the discogram verified it was the same disc that had reruptured. My surgeon told me before the first surgery, it could rupture again and if it did he would do a second repair to avoid a fusion but if it ruptured a a third time I would have to have a fusion. The second discectomy was again successful for 2 years and then one day I stood up to get out of a chair and fell to the floor in pain.

Again, X-rays and another MRI and it showed the reruptured L5S1 and that was all. My surgeon told me he would not do a fusion without a discogram and I am[SO GLAD that is his policy. Only the discogram was able to diagnose that the disc above the L5S1, the L1L2, was also causing my pain and so a double fusion was needed and performed on the bottom two discs.

Thank goodness he insists on Discograms beause if we had relied on the other tests I would have had a single fusion and come out of surgery still having lower back pain and needing a second fusion surgery. The additional cost of a second fusion surgery aside, I can't imaging going through two separate spinal fusions when a discogram could diagnosed all the sources of pain and having to go through another fusion surgery down the road.

I was on back boards for years when I went through all those surgeries and in the 7 yrs since, I still cannot believe the people I know who's doctors never ordered a discogram before their fusion. Their doctors, as many others, relied soley on MRI's, CT Scans and guess what.

When they went back after their fusion and recovery and still complained of pain their surgeons told many of them to give it a years for their surgery to fully heal and when that year went by and they were still in pain, they were told he did the fusion and they would have to learn to live with the pain, there was nothing else that could be done

I told my story on the board and three such people printed out my post and took it back to their doctors, all who agreed to do the discogram and all had an additional source of pain from another disc, all had a second surgery for a fusion on that disc, and all three were no longer in pain.

I still puzzles me to this day, how many surgeons don't order a discogram. My neighbor was in a lot of back pain earlier this year, was diagnosed as needed a fusion via the MRI CT, etc. and she was scheduled for that surgery. I asked her if she had a discogram, she said no. I told her my story and encouraged her to have him get a discogram. She did not do that, she had the fusion and 5 months later, she is still in pain. I say INSIST on a discogram before back surgeries.

While I am at it, I will throw in one more example of the great doctor I had. After that double fusion was I pain free for three months and one morning woke up and couldn't move I was in so much pain in my lower back. I didn't want to even tell my doctor because everyone had called me their star patient and a huge success. (the L5S1 was fused with donor bone, but the L1L2 was fused with BMI (bone morphogenic protein) something that had just started being used. One day my husband call my surgeon from work and told him about my pain and his office called my house immediately and told me to come in that day.

He never doubted my pain, he never said give it more time and we were all totally at a loss for what was causing my pain. He said the symptoms I described were symptoms of a nonfusion so he ordered an MRI and it showed I was fused on both levels. In fact, BMP fuses faster then a bone fusion. Did he tell me I was fully fused on both levels and there was nothing more that could be done, that I would have to learn to LIVE WITH THE PAIN. NO!!!
He said maybe the rods or screws that were put in were the cause and he scheduled me for surgery to take them out BUT he also had me sign for a refusion because he still thought was the only answer even though the films said otherwise.

You guessed it, the upper level, the one that had the BMP was not fused at all. He could wiggle the rods. He did a refusio and we all learned that you can have an MRI the day after a fusion surgery with BMP and it can show a full fusion which would be impossible. To this day, when he lectures residents and interns, he puts up several peoples MRI's and asks them to tell him which people are fused and which aren't and they all say mine is fused. It is a good lesson that many surgeons could benefit from.

It has been 7 years since and 7 years without back pain. As far as I am concerned, there may be other spine surgeons as good as mine, but none better. I can't count the number of people I have referred to him in that time who have come back to thank me and tell me what a great doctor he is. I hope the same for all of you.

While not a picnic, I would not say that a disco is a waste of time. It is pretty effective in pinpointing the exact level that is causing the problem. Personally, I won't agree to having another one unless the ins. co. demands it before giving approval for the surgery. I am at a point where I avoid any test or procedure that is painful, if I can. Best wishes.