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https://doi.org/10.26332/ysest343
Percutaneous Laser Disc Decompression versus Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injection in Lumbar Radicular Pain: The Role of Disc Herniation–Nerve Root Contact
Dino Budrovac
; Clinic for Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Management, University Hospital Centre Osijek, Osijek, Croatia; Faculty of Medicine, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
*
Sonja Škiljić
; Clinic for Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Management, University Hospital Centre Osijek, Osijek, Croatia; Faculty of Medicine, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
Hrvoje Vinković
; Clinic for Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Management, University Hospital Centre Osijek, Osijek, Croatia; Faculty of Medicine, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
Ninoslava Vonić
; Clinic for Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Management, University Hospital Centre Osijek, Osijek, Croatia; Faculty of Dental Medicine and Health Osijek, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
Iva Dimitrijević
; Clinic for Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Management, University Hospital Centre Osijek, Osijek, Croatia; Faculty of Medicine, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
Dijana Hnatešen
; Clinic for Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Management, University Hospital Centre Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
Ivana Haršanji Drenjančević
; Clinic for Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Management, University Hospital Centre Osijek, Osijek, Croatia; Faculty of Medicine, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
Ozana Katarina Tot
; Clinic for Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Management, University Hospital Centre Osijek, Osijek, Croatia; Faculty of Medicine, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
Ivan Radoš
; Clinic for Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Management, University Hospital Centre Osijek, Osijek, Croatia; Faculty of Medicine, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
Matija Budrovac
; Emergency Medicine Center, General Hospital Našice, Našice Croatia
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
Aim: To compare the effectiveness of percutaneous laser disc decompression (PLDD) and transforaminal epidural steroid injection with local anesthetic (ESI TF) in participants with lumbar radicular pain caused by intervertebral disc herniation, depending on the presence of disc herniation with nerve root contact.
Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted on 116 participants with unilateral lumbar radicular pain caused by intervertebral disc herniation. Participants were stratified according to the presence of disc herniation in contact with the nerve root and then according to the type of procedure performed. Pain intensity was assessed using the visual analogue scale (VAS), and functional disability was assessed using the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Measurements were performed before the procedure and after one, three and six months of follow-up.
Results: In participants with herniated disc and nerve contact, pain was significantly lower in participants who received PLDD compared to ESI TF 30 days after the intervention (P = 0.03), three months after the intervention (P = 0.003) and six months after the intervention (P = 0.004). Analysis of ODI categories showed no consistent difference between treatment methods during follow-up.
Conclusion: Both minimally invasive methods were associated with pain reduction, and PLDD showed a better effect in reducing pain in participants with herniated disc and nerve root contact. The analysis of functional disability did not show a consistent difference between the methods.
Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05601791.
Keywords
radiculopathy; epidural injection; laser therapy
Hrčak ID:
352302
URI
Publication date:
17.10.2026.
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