Transforaminal steroid injections for the treatment of lumbar radiculopathy

Abstract

The utilization of transforaminal epidural steroid injections (TFESIs), an elective diagnostic and therapeutic spinal procedure, has risen dramatically over the past decade. Fluoroscopic guidance is important during lumbar epidural injection to increase the certainty of correct needle placement, thus minimizing the risk of complications. Patients with radiculopathy, who did not respond to physical therapy, anti-inflammatories, or analgesics confirmed by magnetic resonance imagining received fluoroscopically guided lumbar transforaminal epidural steroid injections at the presumed symptomatic nerve root. This study included 32 individuals with lumber radiculopathy and followed at 1, 2 and 4 after injection.