Open AccessA Comparison of Quincke and Whitacre Needles with Respect to Risk of Intravascular Uptake in S1 Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injections
Author(s) -
Jaehyuck Shin,
Yong Chul Kim,
Sang Chul Lee,
JaeHun Kim
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
anesthesia and analgesia/anesthesia and analgesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.404
H-Index - 201
eISSN - 1526-7598
pISSN - 0003-2999
DOI - 10.1213/ane.0b013e3182a6d1bd
Subject(s) - medicine , discontinuation , epidural steroid injection , anesthesia , neuraxial blockade , surgery , low back pain , alternative medicine , pathology , spinal anesthesia
Transforaminal epidural steroid injection (TFESI) is a useful treatment modality for pain management. Most complications of TFESI are minor and transient. However, there is a risk of serious complications such as nerve injury, spinal cord infarct, or paraplegia. Some of the risks are related to direct injury to the vessel or intravascular injection of the particulate steroid. We prospectively tested the hypothesis that the intravascular injection rate of the Whitacre needle is lower than that of the Quincke needle during TFESI.