Steroids Blog

As per a latest study, a translaminar approach to cervical spinal steroid injections can prove itself to be an outstanding treatment methodology for minimizing neck pain in as much as 83 percent of treated patient population.

This study also suggested that such an approach is considered to be an effective treatment option as it does not come with any major complications and is safer than other alternative therapy and even surgery.

These findings were presented by lead researcher William M. Strub, M.D., of the University of Cincinnati, who completed the study with interventional radiologists based at The Christ Hospital.

From News-Medical.Net:

In addition to being an effective treatment, the translaminar approach was found to be safer than an alternative method or surgery, as no major complications were observed. In the alternative approach, steroids are injected in close proximity to nerve bundles and small blood vessels in the spine, which can result in nerve damage or paralysis. The translaminar technique in the study avoids this risk by injecting the steroids into the epidural space in the neck, allowing the drug to spread up and down the spine to reduce the inflammation and subsequently reduce pain. This safer translaminar approach is an outpatient treatment, requiring only a small amount of local anesthesia. Although the injection does not treat the underlying cause of the pain, such as arthritis or herniated disc, it does treat the immediate pain flare-up, allowing patients to get back to their normal routines. The research was presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology’s 32nd Annual Scientific Meeting in Seattle.

“Although the other approach offers pain relief, there is increased risk of major complications such as paralysis. This study shows the translaminar approach is just as effective, but without the risk,” explained lead researcher William M. Strub, M.D., of the University of Cincinnati, who completed the study with interventional radiologists based at The Christ Hospital. “This procedure can help provide pain relief in patients with neck pain from bulging discs, arthritis, and even in patients who continue to have pain after cervical spine surgery. It’s well tolerated, outpatient, nonsurgical, safe and effective, and as such, we expect this approach to become the gold standard for reducing patients’ neck pain.”

Strub further added that this research is expected to bring forward some of the most outstanding results in the stages of neck pain treatment without any major complications suggesting that the attained results are reproducible.