Purpose
The current study aims to report the results of analyzed factors that ultimately undergo surgical treatment after selective nerve root block in patients with spinal structural pathology that cause lower back pain and radiating pain in the lower extremities. Material and methods: A retrospective study was performed on 537 patients diagnosed with spinal canal stenosis or disc herniation among patients who underwent selective nerve root block at our hospital for five years from May 2015 to December 2017. The patients were divided into Group A (patients with an only selective spinal nerve root, n=99) and Group B (patients with surgical treatment, n=20). We evaluated the primary demographic factors, including age, sex, onset, symptom duration, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, angina, osteoporosis. The clinical variables included in the analysis were the preoperative visual analog scale (VAS) pain score, the Korean version of the Oswestry Disability Index (K-ODI), and the Roland-Morris disability questionnaire (RMDQ).
Results
The average symptom duration was 22.6±1.2 weeks in group A, and 35.7±0.9 in group B. Of a total of 20 patients (16.8%), four males (20%) and 16 females (80%) were underwent surgical procedures because there was no improvement in symptoms. Group B had a significantly higher proportion of female patients and longer symptom duration than group A. And there were no statistically significant differences between groups in other variables.
Conclusions
Although the frequency of surgical treatment decreased after selective nerve root block, the longer symptom duration and the female gender might be related to the risk factors for surgical treatment.