가톨릭대학교 의과대학 성빈센트병원 신경외과
Epiduroscopy which is the latest development in clinical application of the endoscopy in human body is gaining more popularity in recent days. As the interest in the percutaneous neuroplasty in the non-surgical treatment of spinal pain is increasing among the physicians dealing chronic pain from spinal origin, the interest about epiduroscopic pain treatment is increasing also. The epiduroscopic pain treatment has an inherent advantage of observing the offending pathology directly. In line with this, small, but continuous reports regarding the effectiveness of the epiduroscopic pain treatment has been reported in the literature against for chronic pain from post-spinal surgery syndrome, lumbosacral radiculopathy from herniated lumbar disc and spinal stenosis, and chronic low back pain. However, epiduroscopic pain treatment has disadvantages of furnishing the complex equipments, more detailed procedures, and demanding more time in the procedure. The risks of ophthalmological complications associated with injudicious use of the irrigation saline during the procedure has been stressed several times. Other complications related to the techiniques of epidural anesthesia have already been reported. More thoughtful application of the epiduroscopy for the chronic pain of benign spinal pathology is warranted.
