Trial reportPain physician2018
Reducing Radiation Exposure in Lumbar Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injections with Pulsed Fluoroscopy: A Randomized, Double-blind, Controlled Clinical Trial.
Trial report in Pain physician, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.
- Radiation Exposure for Interventional Pain Management Physicians: A Review of Recent Literature.Current pain and headache reports · 2025Review
- Influence of Obesity, Race and Gender on Radiation Exposure for Epidural Procedures.Current pain and headache reports · 2025Review
- Reduction of Radiation Exposure by Modifying Imaging Manner and Fluoroscopic Settings during Percutaneous Pedicle Screw Insertion.Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundFluoroscopy-guided lumbar transforaminal epidural steroid injections (L-TFESI) result in radiation exposure that carries risks to patients, physicians, and procedural staff.
objectiveWe aim to evaluate the feasibility of using pulsed fluoroscopy to safely reduce radiation exposure during L-TFESI. STUDY
designThis is a prospective, double-blind, randomized controlled trial.
settingThis study took place in a single-center, academic, outpatient interventional pain management clinic.
methodsPatients undergoing L-TFESI were randomly assigned to either continuous mode fluoroscopy (high-dose), pulsed fluoroscopy with 8 pulses per second (medium-dose), or pulsed fluoroscopy with one pulse per second (low-dose). Data on radiation doses and other clinical and demographic factors were also collected.
resultsIn total, 231 cases were analyzed in the high-dose group (n = 81), medium-dose group (n = 72), and low-dose group (n = 78). Mean radiation effective dose (µSv) was 121 in the high-dose group, 57.9 in the medium-dose group, and 34.8 in the low-dose group (P < 0.001). The incidence of inadequate image quality in the pulsed groups was 6% (9/150). The body mass index (BMI, mean ± SD) was significantly higher in patients with inadequate image quality (37.3 ± 7.2) than with adequate quality (30.5 ± 7.2, P = 0.005). LIMITATIONS: Radiation doses were measured using the meter on C-arm fluoroscopes rather than by direct measurement.
conclusionsThe use of pulsed fluoroscopy during L-TFESI resulted in radiation dose reduction of up to 72.1% without causing any significant adverse events. Pulsed fluoroscopy should be considered as an initial fluoroscopic setting for L-TFESI to reduce radiation exposure. KEY WORDS: Radiation, epidural, fluoroscopy, injection, exposure, pulse.
Indexed as
Identifiers
29357331PMC6413313W2985986205What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.