Muhammad Rashid Iqbal, Liaquat Ali, Syed Hamid Ali Shah, Mudassar Iqbal, Syed Majid Waseem, Shymla Hamid.
Comparison of analgesic efficacy of transforaminal vs caudal epidural approaches for unilateral lumbar radiculopathy.
Pak Armed Forces Med J Jan ;70(Suppl-1):S135-39.

Objective: To compare the analgesic efficacy of transforaminal epidural vs. caudal epidural approaches for unilateral lumbar radiculopathy. Study Design: Quasi experimental study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Pain Medicine, Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Rawalpindi, from Jul 2017 to Mar 2018. Methodology: Total 96 patients of unilateral radiculopathy were randomly assigned into two equal groups. Group A (n=48) received transforaminal epidural injection of local anesthetic 2.5ml of 0.125% bupivacaine with steroid triamcinolone 40mg and group B received caudal epidural injection Local anesthetic 25ml of 0.125% bupivacaine with triamcinolone 40mg. Pain score was assessed at 0 (PRe procedural baseline), 4, and 12 weeks intervals after intervention by using numerical rating scale and values at 0 and 12 weeks compared for analysis. Results: Mean numerical rating scale pain score in group A and group B were 7.5 ± 0.99 and 3.1 ± 1.6, 7 ± 1.10 and 5.55 ± 1.0 at 0 and 12 week respectively. There was a reduction in mean pain score from baseline to 12 week in both the groups with statistical significance more in group A compared to group B (p<0.05). Conclusion: Pain relief score was found to be statistically significant in transforaminal epidural as compared to caudal epidural for unilateral radiculopathy at 12 weeks post procedure.

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