- Title
- A systematic review of the effectiveness of CT-guided, lumbar transforaminal injection of steroids
- Creator
- Bui, John; Bogduk, Nikolai
- Relation
- Pain Medicine Vol. 14, Issue 12, p. 1860-1865
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/pme.12243
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2013
- Description
- Objective: To determine the effectiveness and safety of computerized tomography (CT) guided, lumbar transforaminal injection of steroids in the treatment of radicular pain. Design: Systematic review of published literature. Interventions: Two reviewers independently assessed 19 publications on the effectiveness and safety of CT-guided, lumbar transforaminal injection of steroids. Outcome Measures: For effectiveness, the primary outcome was the success rate for relief of pain. For safety, the radiation exposure involved and the nature of complications were determined. Results: Much of the literature fails to provide evidence. Two studies reported decreases in mean or median pain scores but no other data. Two studies reported success rates of between 34% and 62% for achieving 50% relief of pain at between 1 and 6 months after treatment. CT-guided injections may involve greater radiation exposure than does fluoroscopy-guided injections and do not avoid catastrophic spinal cord injury. Conclusion: The evidence-base for CT-guided lumbar transforaminal injection of steroids is meagre. This intervention is not more effective than fluoroscopy-guided injections and is not demonstrably safer.
- Subject
- radicular pain; lumbar; transforaminal; injection; steroids; CT; computerized tomography
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1317715
- Identifier
- uon:23484
- Identifier
- ISSN:1526-2375
- Language
- eng
- Reviewed
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