Phase 4
N=65
Surgery Prevention by Transforaminal Injection of Epidural Steroids for Cervical Radicular Pain
Pain, Radiating
Bottom Line
View on ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02226159 ↗Enrolled (actual)
65
Serious AEs
0.0%
Results posted
Oct 2020
Primary outcome: Primary: Avoidance of Neck Surgery — 24; 20; 3; 6 Participants
Study Design & Population
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase 4
- Interventions
- Lidocaine (Drug); Lidocaine with Dexamethasone (Drug)
- Age
- Adult, Older Adult · 18+ yrs
- Sex
- All
- Sponsor
- OrthoCarolina Research Institute, Inc.
- Primary completion
- May 2019
Outcome Measures
| Outcome | Result | p-value |
|---|---|---|
| PRIMARY Avoidance of Neck Surgery |
24; 20; 3; 6 | — |
| SECONDARY Disability |
16.4; 15.4 | — |
| SECONDARY Numeric Pain Scre |
3.7; 3.8 | — |
| SECONDARY Patient Satisfaction |
7.2; 6.8 | — |
| SECONDARY Disability |
16.4; 15.4 | — |
| SECONDARY Disability |
16.4; 15.4 | — |
| SECONDARY Disability |
16.4; 15.4 | — |
| SECONDARY Numeric Pain Score |
2.9; 3.2 | — |
| SECONDARY Numeric Pain Score |
2.9; 3.2 | — |
| SECONDARY Numeric Pain Score |
2.9; 3.2 | — |
| SECONDARY Patient Satisfaction |
7.2; 6.8 | — |
| SECONDARY Patient Satisfaction |
7.2; 6.8 | — |
| SECONDARY Patient Satisfaction |
7.2; 6.8 | — |
Summary
Cervical radicular pain is a common cause of disability and pain in the upper extremity and neck with an annual incidence of 83.2/100,000 (1). The initial treatment is conservative and includes relative rest, use of anti-inflammatory and analgesic medication, as well as physical therapy and home exercise. For patients who have persistent and significant symptoms, interventional pain management and surgical management are considered. Cervical epidural injections are the mainstay of the interventional, non-surgical modalities. They can be considered to provide short and long-term relief when disc herniation, foraminal stenosis or central canal stenosis pathology is identified. We are not aware of any published prospective, randomized, controlled, double-blinded studies demonstrating the efficacy of cervical transforaminal epidural steroid injections. However, the North American Spine Society (NASS) Review and Recommendation Statement states that based on the literature and expert opinion, a minimum of one or two cervical epidural steroid injections would be very appropriate in the treatment of a specific episode of cervical radicular pain.
The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of cervical transforaminal epidural steroid injections in decreasing the need for an operation in patients with cervical radicular pain, otherwise considered to be operative candidates.
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- Subjects who have cervical radicular pain without significant neurologic deficit (neurologic deficit is defined as manual muscle testing less than 3/5), MRI/CT findings of neural compression (neural compression is defined as disc herniation or central or foraminal spinal stenosis),
- Failed 6 weeks of conservative treatment (conservative treatment is defined as relative rest, home exercise, physical therapy, and use of anti-inflammatory and/or analgesic medications),
- Deemed to be good operative candidates by spine surgeons (patients with MRI/CT findings of neural compression with concordant symptoms) and had agreed to possible operative intervention
Exclusion Criteria
- History of
- acute trauma,
- diabetes (type I or type II),
- active infection
- Active progressive neurological deficit (neurologic is deficit defined as manual muscle testing less than 3/5),
- Medical condition that may affect the cervical spine neurological exam and/or pain assessment (e.g. peripheral neuropathy),
- Bilateral disease,
- More than one cervical level requiring injection,
- Bleeding disorders or other medical contraindications to the injection procedure,
- Absence of substantial radicular pain (radicular pain is defined as arm pain greater than neck pain),
- Involvement in workers' compensation claim, or any litigation related to neck injury.
- Patients who are pregnant, or who plan to become pregnant in the next 12 months
Data sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02226159). Outcome figures and adverse-event rates are extracted automatically from the registry's posted results and are provided for clinician reference, not as a substitute for the primary publication.