At Least 5-Year Follow-up After Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injection Due to Lumbar Radicular Pain Caused by Spinal Stenosis

Objectives Transforaminal epidural steroid injection (TFESI) can be used to control radicular pain following lumber spinal stenosis (LSS). However, limited information is available on the long-term prognosis of TFESI in patients with LSS. Methods Of the 90 patients who underwent TFESI for controlling LSS-induced radicular pain at least 5 years previously, 54 patients completed a phone interview. We inquired about their degree of pain during walking or standing, current oral medication used for radicular pain, current TFESI injections, progression to surgery, and unemployment due to pain at least 5 years after the TFESI for LSS-induced radicular pain. Results Five to seven years after the initial TFESI, the numeric rating scale (NRS) score had decreased from 6.7 to 3.7. Of the included patients, approximately 65% of the patients had an NRS score of >= 3, although roughly 15% of patients reported complete resolution of the initial pain. Approximately half of the included patients were currently receiving repetitive TFESIs every 2 to 6 months or were taking oral pain medications. Further, approximately 25% of the patients had undergone a surgical intervention; however, its outcome was poor. Conclusion The prognosis after TFESI for controlling LSS-induced radicular pain is thought to be relatively poor. However, considering poor long-term outcome and complications after surgery, we believe that TFESI is worth considering as a safe modality for controlling radicular pain following LSS.