Disclosures: John T. Chan, MD: No financial relationships or conflicts of interest

Objective: To determine the proportion of patients who achieve a successful outcome from thoracic transforaminal epidural steroid injections (TFESI), and to evaluate for predictive factors of success.

Design: Retrospective chart review of patients who underwent a thoracic TFESI at a single academic medical center between 2011 and 2018. Setting : Outpatient procedure center. Participants : 24 patients who underwent thoracic transforaminal epidural steroid injections.

Interventions: Retrospective chart review of patient course through initial visit, intervention and post-procedural follow-up.

Main Outcome Measures: Success rate of intervention, defined as at least 50% pain relief after thoracic transforaminal ESI.

Results: Twenty-four patients were identified. We report a 38% success rate, defined as at least 50% pain relief after thoracic transforaminal ESI. There was no difference in success rates for patients who reported thoracic radicular symptoms (38%) compared to those who reported only axial thoracic pain. Eight out of the 24 patients (33%) underwent repeat ESI and these occurred at a mean of 109 days after the initial ESI. No procedural complications were reported. Preliminary evaluation suggests better results in patients with disc herniations compared to those with degenerative changes. Additional evaluation of the data is currently underway. Conclusions: This retrospective study will be the largest reported series on thoracic ESI. Success rate from this procedure was found to be 38%. Evaluation of the data for predictive factors is currently underway.

Level of Evidence: Level IV

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PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/thoracic-transforaminal-epidural-steroid-injection-for-management-of-thoracic-spine-pain-a-case-series/