Open AccessEfficacy of Fluoroscopically Guided, Contrast‐Enhanced Lumbosacral Interlaminar Epidural Steroid Injections: A Pilot Study
Author(s) -
Furman Michael B.,
Kothari Gautam,
Parikh Tejas,
Anderson Jason G.,
Khawaja Ali
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
pain medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.893
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1526-4637
pISSN - 1526-2375
DOI - 10.1111/j.1526-4637.2010.00926.x
Subject(s) - medicine , epidural steroid injection , radicular pain , lumbosacral joint , lumbar , confidence interval , sciatica , prospective cohort study , low back pain , observational study , physical therapy , surgery , alternative medicine , pathology
Objective. To assess the efficacy of fluoroscopically guided, contrast‐enhanced lumbar interlaminar epidural steroid injections (IL‐ESI) for lower limb pain greater than axial low back pain using self‐reported pain scores. Study Design. Prospective, single‐arm, pilot, observational human study. Setting. An outpatient private practice interventional spine specialty referral center. Data/Results. Twenty‐one patients were initially included in analysis. Thirteen patients had “complete data” and completed 3 months of data after their most recent IL‐ESI. Their self‐reported 3‐day average Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) score (0 to 10) at inception, 2 weeks, 6 weeks, and 3 months were 6.38, 3.00, 2.88, and 3.04, respectively. The average NPRS score at 3 months was significantly lower than at inception after the IL‐ESI for this group ( P = 0.0001, 95% confidence interval [1.69, 5.00]). Eight patients had “incomplete data.” Their self‐reported 3‐day average NPRS scores at inception, 2 weeks, and 6 weeks were 6.69, 4.25, and 4.00, respectively. Of the eight patients who had incomplete data, two patients had surgical intervention, five patients had lumbar transforaminal epidural steroid injections, and one patient was unable to be contacted after 6 weeks. Discussion/Conclusion. This prospective, single‐arm pilot study demonstrates that subjects who have had fluoroscopically guided, contrast‐enhanced lumbar IL‐ESIs for radicular > axial pain can have improved (lowered) NPRS for at least 3 months. It would be worthwhile to pursue a more rigorous study.