Ultrasound-Guided Lumbar Spine Injection for Axial and Radicular Pain: A Single Institution Early Experience

Abstract

<sec><title>Study Design</title><p>Clinical audit via retrospective review of a database.</p></sec><sec><title>Purpose</title><p>To report an early experience using ultrasound-guided lumbar spinal injection for axial and radicular pain in an Asian multiethnic cohort.</p></sec><sec><title>Overview of Literature</title><p>Ultrasound-guided spine injection therapy is a comparatively new technique in the management of axial and radicular pain from degenerative lumbar spinal conditions, which may be a reasonable alternative to conventional fluoroscopic or computed tomography-guided injection.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>A retrospective review was conducted, involving all patients who underwent ultrasound-guided lumbar spine injection therapy at a single institution over 1 year. Patients were evaluated by two interventionists, who then performed standardized ultrasound-guided lumbar facet joint and pararadicular spinal injections.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>There were 42 patients treated at our Sports Medicine Centre; with 27 patients (64.3%) receiving facet joint injections and 18 patients (42.9%) receiving nerve root injections. The majority (90.5%) of patients experienced an improvement of >30% in pain intensity at 3 months post-injection, using the Numerical Rating Scale pain score (<italic>p</italic><0.001); with 40 patients (95.2%) reporting a reduction in Oswestry Disability Index score (<italic>p</italic><0.001). No complications were reported.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusions</title><p>Our initial experience confirms the safety, feasibility, and effectiveness of ultrasound-guided lumbar spinal injection for the treatment of axial and radicular pain in an Asian multiethnic cohort.</p></sec>