Cervical Epidural Steroid Injections: A Narrative Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47924/neurotarget202110Keywords:
cervical radicular pain, cervical steroid epidural injections, transforaminal approachAbstract
Neck pain is the fourth cause of disability in the United States. The risk of developing cervicalgia is nearly 50% in general population. Cervical radicular pain has an estimated incidence of 1 to 3.5 per 1000 people, with a peak between 40 and 50 years old.
Multidisciplinary treatment, with a combination with pharmacology, physiotherapy, psychological or psy-chiatric support and cervical epidural steroid injections has had the best results.
Cervical epidural steroid injections can be performed similarly to the rest of the spine by interlaminar or transforaminal approach. However, the cervical trans-foraminal injection is not the first choice due to the rare but devastating complications that have been observed. On the other hand, the interlaminar approach is the safest and best supported option, and therefore more often recommended by clinical algorithms.
In the present article, the pharmacological aspects, the accesses used in the cervical steroid’s epidural injections and their complications, as well as the patient monitoring recommended in order to ensure their safety, are reviewed.
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