Efficacy of lumbar epidural corticosteroid injections on clinical status of the patients with radiculopathy

Objective: To investigate the effect of lumbar epidural steroid injection in patients with radiculopathy Materials-Methods: 37 patients with radiculopathy were recruited retrospectively in the study. Radicular, low back pain and paresthesia intensity were evaluated using visual analog scale (VAS); the evidence of nerve stretch was evaluated by straight leg rising (SRL), disability levels were evaluated using the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and the quality of life was evaluated by SF-36.
Results: A significant improvement was observed in VAS-radicular and lomber pain levels at the 24th hours post-injection (p<0.01), at the 1st week (p<0.01), at 1st month(p <0.01) and 3rd month (p<0.05). Recovery rate of straight leg raising test was found to be 88% (p<0.05). A statistically significant improvement was found in the ODI levels and the quality of life as assessed by the SF-36 at the1st week (p<0.01) and after 3 months of the treatment (p<0.05).
Conclusion: During the first 3 months of treatment, lumbar epidural corticosteroid injections were effective in patients with radiculopathy.

Lomber diskopati tanýlý olgulara uyguladýðýmýz epidural kortikosteroid enjeksiyonunun klinik sonuçlarý

Amaç: Lomber epidural steroid enjeksiyonlarý (LESE) lomber disk hernisinde (LDH) kullanýlan minimal invaziv tedavi yöntemleridir. Bu çalýþmada, konservatif tedavi yöntemleri ya da cerrahi tedaviyle iyileþmeyen bel aðrýsý þikayeti olan hastalara uyguladýðýmýz LESE tedavisinin, semptomlar ve yaþam kalitesine etkisini incelemeyi amaçladýk.
Gereç ve Yöntem: Çalýþma, kliniðimize konservatif tedaviye dirençli lomber diskopati tanýsý olan 37 hastaya uygulanan LESE (transforaminal (TF), kaudal (K), interlaminar (ÝL)) kayýtlarýnýn retrospektif olarak incelenmesi ile gerçekleþtirildi. Aðrý þiddeti Vizüel Analog Skala (VAS) ile, sinir germe delilleri düz bacak kaldýrma (DBK), dizabilite düzeyleri Oswestry Dizabilite Ýndeksi (ODI), yaþam kalitesi ise
SF-36 ile ilk 24. saat, 1.hafta, 1. ay ve 3. ayda deðerlendirildi.
Bulgular: VAS-radiküler aðrý düzeylerinde, ilk 24. saatte (p<0.01), 1. haftada (p<0.01), 1. ay (p<0.01) ve 3.ayda (p<0.05) istatistiksel olarak anlamlý iyileþme mevcuttur. VAS-lomber aðrý düzeylerinde, ilk 24.saatte (p<0.01), 1. haftada (p<0.01), 1. ay (p<0.05) ve 3.ayda (p<0.05) istatistiksel olarak anlamlý iyileþme mevcuttur. ODI düzeylerinde ve SF-36 ile deðerlendirilen yaþam kalitesinde ise tedavi öncesine
göre ilk 24.saatte (p<0.01), 1. haftada (p<0.01), 1. ay (p<0.01) ve 3.ayda (p<0.05) istatistiksel olarak anlamlý iyileþme mevcuttur.
Sonuç: Minimal invaziv bir yöntem olan LESE tedavisinin LDH tanýsý olan hastalara uygulanmasýyla baþarýlý sonuçlara ulaþabileceðimiz kanaatindeyiz.