A Case Series of Selective Nerve Root Block - A Technique for Delaying Surgery in Patients with Lumbar Radiculopathy.

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this research is to study the clinical outcome and symptomatic improvement for patients with lumbar radiculopathy treated with selective nerve root block (SNRB) under fluoroscopic guidance. This non-surgical management can be used at various sites including cervical and lumbar regions and also can prevent early surgeries for patients with radiculopathy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Thirty patients with low back pain with or without sciatica were treated by fluoroscopic-guided nerve root block (F- NRB) as therapeutic management in government Cuddalore Medical College during the period of August 2020-2022. These patients were studied prospectively for the period of6 months and assessed with the Visual Analog Scale to quantify the severity ofpain.

DISCUSSION

30 patients underwent S-NRB, in that 26 patients had an immediate recovery and four patients showed delayed recovery, so that four patients underwent surgery. At the 3rd and 6th-month follow-up, 14 patients did not have a recurrence of pain and 12 had a recurrence of pain. Out of these 12 patients who had pain recurrence, only four needed surgery and the rest were managed conservatively. Accordingly, out of 30 patients who underwent SNRB, only eight patients needed surgery.

CONCLUSION

Patients with lumbar radiculopathy caused by lumbar disc prolapse and foraminal stenosis have good clinical outcomes by SNRB. This method had good pain relief for about 86% of patients immediately and prevented surgery for about 73.3% of patients. Out of 26.7% who underwent surgery, the majority had sequestrated discs. Thus, the sequestrated disc is one of the major negative predictors of successful outcomes for SNRB.