Ultrasound-guided Caudal or Interlaminar Corticosteroid Epidural Injection for Sciatica

Ultrasound-guided Caudal or Interlaminar Injection? A Comparative Study of Epidural Corticosteroid Injections in the Treatment of Lumbar Disk Herniation-related Sciatica

An open-label randomized trial to compare the efficacy of ultrasound-guided caudal and interlaminar corticosteroid injections for the treatment of lumbar disk herniation-related sciatica.

An open-label randomized trial conducted in one centre to compare the efficacy of ultrasound-guided caudal and interlaminar corticosteroid injections for the treatment of lumbar disk herniation-related sciatica. 30 male and female patients will be included in each group. The primary outcome measure will be a 30% decrease in lower limbs pain as assessed by a visual analog scale.

Inclusion Criteria:

• radicular pain (sciatica or cruralgia) for more than 2 weeks
• failure of analgesics and NSAIDs
• without neurological deficiency (motor weakness lower or equal to 3/5)
• a lumbar disk herniation on MRI or CT dating less than 3 months

Exclusion Criteria:

• history of lumbar surgery
• history of epidural injection during the last 3 months
• radicular pain not due to disk herniation
• a contraindication to epidural injection (infection, diabetes)
• history of allergic reaction to corticosteroid
• patient under legal guardianship