What Is A Lumbar Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injection?

Lumbar Transforaminal Steroid injections can be used to treat numerous conditions, which include:

• Lumbar spinal stenosis
• A herniated disc
• Degenerative disc disease
• Degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis
• Lumbar radiculopathy or sciatica

How Is A Lumbar Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injection Performed?

The patient lies on his stomach on a surgical table. Sedation may be given by anaesthetist to reduce the discomfort and anxiety during the procedure. After cleaning and sterilising the skin, a needle is inserted in an oblique direction all the way from the skin until the needle tip reaching the neural foramen of the vertebra (i.e. transforaminal). In order to have precise and accurate insertion and positioning of the needle, a physician uses X-ray fluoroscopy as real-time guidance. In addition, before the medication is administered a contrast dye is injected as a means of observing whether the medication will be properly distributed to the affected nerves. Then a certain amount of mixture of steroid and local anaesthetic is delivered through the needle to the epidural space. The entire procedure takes approximately 15 minutes and is a day procedure that patient may leave the hospital in 2 hours after the procedure and does not need to stay overnight in the hospital.

Patients who receive lumbar transforaminal epidural steroid injections generally report experiencing dramatic relief almost immediately or within a few days after the injection. If a patient only experiences minor relief, the injection can safely be repeated within a short period of time.

The successful rate of Lumbar transforaminal epidural steroid injection is about 70-90%. It is a very safe procedure and carries very low risks (~1%). Having said that, the possible complications include nerve or vascular injury, dural puncture, headache and dizziness, infection etc.

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