ArticleSkeletal radiology2023
Transforaminal versus interlaminar CT-guided lumbar epidural steroid injections: prospective study of 237 patients with unilateral radicular pain and up to 5 years of follow-up.
Article in Skeletal radiology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of epidural steroid injections in the treatment of lumbar radiculopathy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Pooled it
- Therapeutic interventions of platelet-rich plasma versus corticosteroid injections for lumbar radicular pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2025Pooled it
- Subacute and Chronic Low-Back Pain: From MRI Phenotype to Imaging-Guided Interventions.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo compare the efficacy of the transforaminal approach (TFA) versus the interlaminar approach (ILA) for CT-guided epidural steroid injection (CTESI) in the treatment of persistent lumbosacral radicular pain (LRP > 6 weeks) with long-term follow-up.
methodsPatients were prospectively assessed for pain by visual analogue scale (VAS) and functional disability (Oswestry Disability Index, (ODI)) before treatment, then 6 weeks (6W), 6 months (6 M), and 5 years (5Y) after CTESI.
resultsOverall, n = 237 patients (TFA, n = 71 and ILA, n = 166) were included, and 96 patients had 5 years of follow-up. Both groups showed a statistically significant improvement in VAS and ODI values at 6W (TFA, n = 60 and ILA, n = 146, P < 0.001 for both), at 6 M (TFA, n = 34 and ILA, n = 96, P < 0.001 for both), and at 5Y (TFA, n = 32 and ILA, n = 64, P < 0.001 for both). No significant differences were observed between the two approaches in VAS or ODI decreases at 6W (P = 0.38 and P = 0.33 respectively), 6 M (P = 0.13 and P = 0.51 respectively), or 5Y (P = 0.15 and P = 0.57 respectively). No major complications were noted.
conclusionOutcomes after CTESI by ILA approaches are similar to those by TFA for the treatment of persistent LRP.
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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.