title: A novel balloon-inflatable catheter for percutaneous epidural adhesiolysis and decompression.
abstract: Epidural adhesions cause pain by interfering with the free movement of the spinal nerves and increasing neural sensitivity as a consequence of neural compression. To remove adhesions and deliver injected drugs to target sites, percutaneous epidural adhesiolysis (PEA) is performed in patients who are unresponsive to conservative treatments. We describe four patients who were treated with a newly developed inflatable balloon catheter for more effective PEA and relief of stenosis. In the present patients, treatments with repetitive epidural steroid injection and/or PEA with the Racz catheter or the NaviCath did not yield long-lasting effects or functional improvements. However, PEA and decompression with the inflatable balloon catheter led to maintenance of pain relief for more than seven months and improvements in the functional status with increases in the walking distance. The present case series suggests that the inflatable balloon catheter may be an effective alternative to performing PEA when conventional methods fail to remove adhesions or sufficiently relieve stenosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Seong Soo
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Eun Young
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Joo
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Beom Sang
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jong Hyuk
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Gunn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jeong Hun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jeong Gill
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Leem
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jin Woo
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Shin
keywords: balloon; lumbar disc herniation; percutaneous epidural adhesiolysis; post lumbar surgery syndrome; spinal stenosis
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