It is very similar to a nerve block or an ESI. I believe this is fairly standard procedure, but at least, this is how it was done to me. Under fluoroscopy, the doctor will inject a nurabing agent around the hardware. This should take effect almost immediately. The patient is then asked to resume activity that normally causes pain, such as walking, bending, sitting, etc. The patient jots down what he is experiencing and when. If the doctor has injected the "right" location, and the hardware is causing the pain, the patient should be able to perform those activities that normally cause pain without pain while nurab. Gradually the pain will return, as the nurabing agent wears off. The doctor will try to correlate the return of pain to the suspected problem.
Sometimes the doctor will also include some steroid in with the nurabing agent. This is done to hopefully provide a bit of lasting relief from the pain.
If your husband had previous injections, he should react to this in a similar fashion. The needle may irritate the site and he may be sore for a period of time afterward. I imagine he will be encouraged to ice the area and take it easy for 24 hours.
