Riassunto dello studio

Fifty patients with lumbar radicular pain were randomized to receive a transforaminal epidural injection injection of bupivacaine or an identical transforaminal epidural injection plus pulsed radiofrequency treatment of the dorsal root ganglion. The primary outcome of interest was the proportion of patients with at least 20 point reduction in Visual Analog Scale (VAS) pain scores. The secondary outcome of interest was the proportion of patients with at least 50% improvement in Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores. Follow up was performed up to 6 months post-operation. Results revealed no significant differences in both primary and secondary outcomes between the two groups, with the exception of the proportion of ODI score improvements => 50% at 2 months, which was significantly in favour of the combination group. Despite this, all ODI scores and VAS pain scores were significantly in favour of the combination group at all time-points compared to the transforaminal epidural injection only group.