Efficacy of transforaminal lumbar epidural steroid injections in patients with lumbar radiculopathy

Objectives: This study looks into the efficacy and safety of the transforaminal lumbar epidural steroid injection (TLESI) applied to patients with radiculopathy due to lumbar disk herniation. Methods: The patients' files which were applied TLESI, were retrospectively scanned. Patients who did not respond to one-month conservative treatment and who were detected to have bulging or protruding lumbar disk herniation as a result of imaging methods were included in the study. All applications were performed with C-arm fluoroscopy under local anesthesia by outpatient method. In all cases, a mix of 80 mg triamsinolone and 0.25% bupivacaine, was transforaminally injected to the anterior epidural area. Initial VAS pain scores were compared with the values of the 1, 3 and 6th months after the application. Patient satisfaction was determined through scoring. Furthermore, early and late term complications were collected for evaluation. Results: A total of 222 patients were administered TLESI 460 times (average: 2.1, repeat interval: 1-6 times). The applications were carried out most frequently at the levels of L4-L5 and L5-S1. While the initial VAS score average was 8.2 +/- 0.7, after TLESI, it was 5.0 +/- 1.6, 4.8 +/- 1.5 and 5.1 +/- 1.5 in the 1, 3 and 6th months, respectively. 63.9% of the patients (n=142) defined the treatment as 'good and excellent'. No major complications were experienced and the overall minor complication rate was 11.1%. Conclusion: It was seen that TLESI was an efficient and safe method in the short and medium term.