Cervical interlaminar epidural steroid injection for neck pain and cervical radiculopathy: effect and prognostic factors.

Abstract

Objective To verify the usefulness of a fluoroscopy guided cervical interlaminar epidural steroid injection (CIESI) in patients with neck pain and cervical radiculopathy and to evaluate outcome predictors.Results and conclusions The medical records of 76 patients (male:female=41 : 35) of mean age 53.1 years (range 32 years to 82 years) were reviewed. Two weeks after injection, 55 patients (72.4%) had experienced effective pain relief. Patients with herniated discs had significantly better results than patients with spinal stenosis (86.1% vs 60.0%) (P0.05). Other non-significant predictors of an improved outcome included: a symptom duration of6 months, a young age, and the presence of cervical radiculopathy. Multiple regression analysis showed that the only factor that was significantly associated with outcome was the cause of the pain, i.e., herniated disc spinal stenosis. Fluoroscopy guided CIESI is a safe and effective means of treating patients with neck pain and cervical radiculopathy. The most important outcome predictor wascause of pain, and patients with herniated disc experienced better pain relief than those with spinal stenosis.