A retrospective study which involved 161 patients, who underwent a total of 280 cervical interlaminar epidural steroid injections from December 2003 through April 2006, revealed that 82% of the patients had pain relief during the first translaminar steroid injection, while 35% rated the procedure as substantial.
Doctor William M. Strub and his colleagues used fine gauge needles to inject steroids into the spinal column at the C7-T1. The injections of the steroid solution which contain about 2.0 mL triamcinolone were performed by five experienced interventional radiologists at three institutions.
From medpage today:
Among 161 patients who underwent the translaminar approach, rather than the more commonly used transforaminal approach, 82% reported pain relief at the first injection, which 35% rated “substantial,” said William M. Strub, M.D., of the University of Cincinnati.
Among the findings, Dr. Strub reported:
• 91% of patients who had the recommended series of three injections reported some degree of pain relief, with 47% rating it “substantial,”
• 8% went on to surgery after their second or third injection,
• Patients with more severe, multilevel spinal disc degeneration reported more pain relief than those with single level changes (odds ratio 4.13, P=0.0055),
• Those with pain radiating to the hand were also more likely to have improvement in pain than those with neck pain alone (OR 2.72, P=0.0011), and
• Injections at the C7-T1 level were most likely to improve pain (OR 2.44, P=0.0034).
According to Dr. Strub, translaminar steroid injections showed no major complications although 5.18% had minor complications such as hot flashes or weight gain. The team concluded that translaminar steroid injections into the cervical spine may help relieve chronic neck pain. They also added that the procedure can relieve neck pain from bulging discs, arthritis, and even in patients who continue to have pain after cervical spine surgery.
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