Background:Lumbar canal stenosis is an important factor in causing pain and functional disability.The study aimed to investigate the effect of epidural injection of triamcinolone and bupivacaine on pain intensity and functional disability in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis.
Methods:With a quasi-experimental study,100 patients with symptoms of lumbar spinal stenosis were randomly selected and inered the study.The interlaminar injection consisted of 8cc of a 2500mg solution of bupivacaine and the addition of 2cc (80 mg) of triamcinolone to the solution, which in a total of 10cc of this mixture was injected into the epidural space.Variables were measured pre-and one month post-injection.The primary outcome was pain intensity,and secondary outcomes were functional disability according to sex and age.A p-value of less than 0.05% was considered a significant level.
Results:The mean pain intensity and functional disability one month after injection in all patients were decreased and were statistically significant(p<0.001).The mean pain intensity decreased in men and women after injection inter groups (p<0.001) but didn’t reach a significant level between groups(mean deference=1.43±0.52,p=0.59).The mean functional disability decreased in men and women after injection in per group(p<0.001) but mean difference between them didn’t reach a significant level(mean deference=2.11±1.50,p=0.95).Although the mean reduction in pain intensity and functional disability was more in younger people, there was no significant difference between the different ages and sexes.
Conclusions: It seems that epidural injection of triamcinolone and bupivacaine solution can be used as a safe and effective drug to reduce pain intensity and functional disability in patients with lumbar spinal canal stenosis.