Injections for Chronic Pain Conditions - MEDICAID - SOUTH CAROLINA

This policy covers image-guided injections for chronic pain conditions — including epidural steroid injections (transforaminal, interlaminar, caudal), facet and sacroiliac joint injections, regional sympathetic and peripheral nerve blocks, trigger point injections and dry needling — for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. It is targeted to patients with radicular and related chronic pain (eg, low back, cervical, thoracic radicular pain from herniated disc, spinal stenosis or degenerative disc disease, often refractory to medications), requires imaging guidance for needle placement, allows steroid use as optional, and notes that caudal/interlaminar approaches should not be performed in conjunction with transforaminal injections while member-specific coverage or clinical judgment may impose additional limits.

"Implicit limitation: Described uses are diagnostic or therapeutic (treatment) purposes only."