Transforaminal epidural steroid injection for radiculopathy and the evolution to surgical treatment: a pragmatic prospective observational multicenter study

• Published in: Pain management Vol. 14; no. 4; p. 173
• Main Authors: Raymaekers, Vincent, Roosen, Gert, Put, Eric, Vanvolsem, Steven, Achahbar, Salah-Eddine, Meeuws, Sacha, Wissels, Maarten, Bamps, Sven, Ridder, Dirk De, Menovsky, Tomas, Plazier, Mark
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 2024
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Female; Humans; Injections, Epidural; Male; Middle Aged; Prospective Studies; Radiculopathy - drug therapy; Radiculopathy - surgery; Steroids - administration & dosage; Treatment Outcome; sciatica; degenerative spinal disease; lumbar disc herniation; surgery; transforaminal epidural steroid injections
• ISSN: 1758-1877
• DOI: 10.2217/pmt-2023-0121

The aim of this study is to analyze the real-world outcomes of transforaminal epidural steroid injections (TFESIs) in all patients with radiculopathy and their long-term outcomes.
Patients with radiculopathy and failure of conservative treatment were included in a prospective, multicenter, observational cohort study.
In total, 117 patients were treated with one or two TFESIs. The mean duration of follow-up was 116 (±14) weeks. In total 19,6% (95% CI: 12.9-28.0%) patients were treated with surgery after insufficient symptom improvement. The evolution to surgery was not associated with etiology, symptom duration or previous spine surgery.
Real-world data confirms that TFESIs is an effective treatment with satisfactory results in about 80% of patients for a period of 2 years.