title: [Assessment of the effectiveness of lumbar transforaminal epidural steroid injection for low back pain].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Transforaminal epidural steroid injection (TFESI) is a minimally invasive technique used for low back pain. We aimed to assess the efficiency of TFESI in patients with low back pain who did not respond to conservative or surgical methods.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was a retrospective analysis of the records of 37 patients (range: 24-80 years) who presented to our clinic with low back pain and were treated by TFESI. Outcomes were assessed by Visual Analog Scale (VAS) measured at the 3rd week and 6th month.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median age of the patients was 50 years, and mean duration of symptoms was 48 months. Diagnosis was lumbar disc herniation (LDH) in 51%, failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS) in 38%, and spinal stenosis (SS) in 11% of the patients. Baseline VAS scores were similar between the three groups. The 3rd week and 6th month VAS scores of LDH and FBSS cases were significantly decreased compared to baseline scores (p<0.001, p=0.001), and no significant change was observed between the VAS scores at the 3rd week and 6th month (p>0.05). If success is defined as 50% or more decrease in VAS scores, the success rate of TFESI was 84% at the 3rd week and 78% at the 6th month.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  TFESI significantly reduced the intensity of low back pain in most of the patients with LDH, FBSS or SS; thus, it may be considered as an effective method in the treatment of low back pain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Ankara, Turkey. drkadiratim@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Abdulkadir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Atım
authors.forename: Süleyman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Deniz
authors.forename: Oğuz
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kılıçkaya
authors.forename: Mehmet Emin
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Orhan
authors.forename: Tarık
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Purtuloğlu
authors.forename: Ercan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kurt
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007268:Injections, Epidural / Q000379:methods*; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013256:Steroids / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D013256:Steroids