A study in Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery analyzed the positive predictive value of diagnostic 1 percent lidocaine containing transforaminal epidural steroid injections after outpatient endoscopic decompression for lumbar foraminal and lateral recess stenosis.
The study comprised 1,839 patients who underwent endoscopic transforaminal decompression at 2,076 lumbar levels.
Here are three study findings:
1. Of the total patients, 1,750 had intraoperatively visualized stenosis in the lateral recess at the surgical level while 89 patients did not.
2. Results for patients with visualized compressive pathology were:
• True positive — 1,578 patients
• False negative — 172 patients
3. Results for patients without visualized compressive pathology were:
• False positive — 26 patients
• True negative — 63 patients
Study authors concluded, "The expected [visual analog scale] pain reduction from a lidocaine containing transforaminal epidural steroid injection renders it a valuable diagnostic tool in improving clinical outcome after lumbar endoscopic transforaminal decompression."