Umit Dincer, Mehmet Zeki Kiralp, Engin Cakar, Evren Yasar and Hasan Dursan
This study compares the effectiveness of caudal epidural injection versus non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in the treatment of low back pain accompanied with radicular pain. 64 patients with subacute or chronic low back pain accompanied with radicular pain were randomly allocated to two groups. First group was caudal epidural injection plus therapeutic exercise group, and the second group was NSAIDs plus therapeutic exercise group. Patients were assessed with 10 cm visual analogue scale for pain, straight leg raising test and Oswestry low back pain disability questionnaire at the beginning and at 15th day, 1st and 3rd month. The results showed that both groups' improvement were good and statistically significant. On the other hand, caudal epidural injection group's improvement was better and faster than the NSAID group's, and the differences between assessment scores of the groups were statistically significant, except the 3rd month Oswestry scores. The authors conclude that caudal epidural injection in the management of the subacute/chronic low back and radicular pain is a preferable choice, if applied by experienced specialists.
Joint Bone Spine, In Press, Uncorrected Proof,