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The utility of diagnostic selective nerve root blocks in the management of patients with lumbar radiculopathy: a systematic review.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE:Lumbar radiculopathy (LR) often manifests as pain in the lower back radiating into one leg (sciatica). Unsuccessful back surgery is associated with significant healthcare costs and risks to patients. This review aims to examine the diagnostic accuracy of selective nerve root blocks (SNRBs) to identify patients most likely to benefit from lumbar decompression surgery. DESIGN:Systematic review of diagnostic test accuracy studies. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:Primary research articles using a patient population with low back pain and symptoms in the leg, SNRB administered under radiological guidance as index test, and any reported reference standard for the diagnosis of LR. INFORMATION SOURCES:MEDLINE (Ovid), MEDLINE In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, EMBASE, Science Citation Index, Biosis, LILACS, Dissertation abstracts and National Technical Information Service from inception to 2018. METHODS:Risk of bias and applicability was assessed using the QUADAS-2 tool. We performed random-effects logistic regression to meta-analyse studies grouped by reference standard. RESULTS:6 studies (341 patients) were included in this review. All studies were judged at high risk of bias. There was substantial heterogeneity across studies in sensitivity (range 57%-100%) and specificity (10%-86%) estimates. Four studies were diagnostic cohort studies that used either intraoperative findings during surgery (pooled sensitivity: 93.5% [95% CI 84.0 to 97.6]; specificity: 50.0% [16.8 to 83.2]) or 'outcome following surgery' as the reference standard (pooled sensitivity: 90.9% [83.1 to 95.3]; specificity 22.0% [7.4 to 49.9]). Two studies had a within-patient case-control study design, but results were not pooled because different types of control injections were used. CONCLUSIONS:We found limited evidence which was of low methodological quality indicating that the diagnostic accuracy of SNRB is uncertain and that specificity in particular may be low. SNRB is a safe test with a low risk of clinically significant complications, but it remains unclear whether the additional diagnostic information it provides justifies the cost of the test.

SUBMITTER: Beynon R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6500311 | biostudies-other | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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The utility of diagnostic selective nerve root blocks in the management of patients with lumbar radiculopathy: a systematic review.

Beynon Rebecca R Elwenspoek Martha Maria Christine MMC Sheppard Athena A Higgins John Nicholas JN Kolias Angelos G AG Laing Rodney J RJ Whiting Penny P Hollingworth William W

BMJ open 20190420 4

<h4>Objective</h4>Lumbar radiculopathy (LR) often manifests as pain in the lower back radiating into one leg (sciatica). Unsuccessful back surgery is associated with significant healthcare costs and risks to patients. This review aims to examine the diagnostic accuracy of selective nerve root blocks (SNRBs) to identify patients most likely to benefit from lumbar decompression surgery.<h4>Design</h4>Systematic review of diagnostic test accuracy studies.<h4>Eligibility criteria</h4>Primary researc ...[more]

PMID: 31005925

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Project description:BackgroundMRI is the gold standard for evaluating the relationship of disc material to soft tissue and neural structures. However, terminologies used to describe lumbar disc herniation and nerve root compression have always been a source of confusion. A clear understanding of lumbar disc terminology among clinicians, radiologists, and researchers is vital for patient care and future research.Questions/purposesThrough a systematic review of the literature, the purpose of this article is to describe lumbar disc terminology and comment on the reliability of various nomenclature systems and their application to clinical practice.MethodsPubMed was used for our literature search using the following MeSH headings: "Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Intervertebral Disc Displacement" and "Lumbar Vertebrae" and terms "nomenclature" or "grading" or "classification". Ten papers evaluating lumbar disc herniation/nerve root compression using different grading criteria and providing information regarding intraobserver and interobserver agreement were identified.ResultsTo date, the Combined Task Force (CTF) and van Rijn classification systems are the most reliable methods for describing lumbar disc herniation and nerve root compression, respectively. van Rijn dichotomized nerve roots from "definitely no root compression, possibly no root compression, indeterminate root compression, possible root compression, and definite root compression" into no root compression (first three categories) and root compression (last two categories). The CTF classification defines lumbar discs as normal, focal protrusion, broad-based protrusion, or extrusion. The CTF classification system excludes "disc bulges," which is a source of confusion and disagreement among many practitioners. This potentially accounts for its improved reliability compared with other proposed nomenclature systems.ConclusionsThe main issue in the management of patients with lumbar disc disease and nerve root compression is correlation of imaging findings with clinical presentation and symptomatology to guide treatment and intervention. Although it appears that the most commonly supported nomenclatures have strong interobserver reliability, the classification term "disc bulges" is a source of confusion and disagreement among many practitioners. Additional research should focus on the clinical application of the various nomenclatures.

Project description:Transforaminal epidural injection of steroids is used to treat lumbar radicular pain. However, there are only a few well-designed randomized, controlled studies on the effectiveness of steroid injection.Hence, this study aims to assess the effectiveness of steroid injection to treat lumbar radicular pain using a meta-analysis of transforaminal epidural injection therapy for low back and lumbar radicular pain. The comparison was based on the mean difference in the Visual Analogue Score (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) from baseline to the specified followed up.The available literature of lumbar transforaminal epidural injections in managing low back and radicular pain was reviewed. Data sources included relevant literature of the English language identified through searches of PubMed and EMBASE from 1966 to 2009, and manual searches of the bibliographies of known primary and review articles. Finally, the search included the Current Controlled Trials Register and the Cochrane Database of Controlled Trials.The initial search identified 126 papers. After screening, five randomised controlled trials (RCTs) were studied for analysis and only three of these had followed-up patients systematically with pain and disability outcome scores to 3 months and of these, only one had follow up to 12 months. A total of 187 patients ('treatment group' receiving local anaesthetic/steroid injection) were compared with 181 patients ('control' group, receiving local anaesthetic only or saline injection). Improvement in pain (standardised mean difference in VAS 0.2 in favour of 'treatment'; 95%CI: -0.41 to 0.00, p = 0.05, I squared 0%) but not disability (standardised mean difference in ODI 0; 95%CI: -0.21 to 0.20, p = 0.99, I squared 0%) was observed between 'treatment' and 'control' groups; these differences were not significant. Additionally, the one study following patients to 12 months did not find any significant difference in VAS and ODI between treatment and control groups.The current meta-analysis shows that transforaminal epidural steroid injections, when appropriately performed, should result in an improvement in pain, but not disability. The three RCTs that followed patients to 3 months (and the single study to 12 months) have found no benefit by the addition of steroids. The limitations of this study include the paucity of the available literature.

Dataset Information

The utility of diagnostic selective nerve root blocks in the management of patients with lumbar radiculopathy: a systematic review.

Publications

The utility of diagnostic selective nerve root blocks in the management of patients with lumbar radiculopathy: a systematic review.

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