BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE DTI can provide valuable structural information that may become an innovative tool in evaluating lumbar foraminal nerve root entrapment. The purpose of this study was to visualize the lumbar nerve roots and to measure their FA in healthy volunteers and patients with lumbar foraminal stenosis by using DTI and tractography with 3T MR imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS Eight p...

Objective: In cases of foraminal superior migration of L5-S1 HNP, it is very difficult to access by rigid endoscopic procedure. Thus, we attempted a contralateral interlaminar approach to expose the exiting nerve root and contralateral foramen to remove the symptomatic disc and preserve the functional structures. Methods: Between January 2013 and January 2014, five patients who received the per...

STUDY DESIGN Case-series study. OBJECTIVE To describe the clinical presentation, characteristic findings of imaging studies, and treatment of lumbar radiculopathy caused by foraminal stenosis in rheumatoid arthritis. BACKGROUND. Lumbar lesions in rheumatoid arthritis are relatively rare, with a limited number of systemic reports. METHODS Six patients with lumbar radiculopathy caused by fora...

We report a very rare (5~7%) case of bilateral C5 palsy after cervical surgery. A 71-year-old male patient with cervical ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) with foraminal stenosis at bilateral C4/5 underwent posterior decompression and fusion surgery. After surgery, muscle weakness in his both deltoid and biceps was detected and gradually deteriorated to complete paralysis. ...

introduction: chronic radicular low back pain is a common disease that limits patient’s daily activity. epidural steroid injection (esi) is becoming the mainstay of therapies for radicular low back pain due to contained bulged disc. aim: to determine the effect of adding hypertonic saline to epidural steroid injections to provide pain relief for chronic radiculopathy back pain secondary to fora...

Cervical transforaminal blocks are frequently performed as a treatment of cervical radicular pain. These blocks are performed mostly under fluoroscopy, but a CT-guided technique also has been described. We describe a modification that leads to a more extraforaminal than transforaminal and equally selective nerve root block.

Patients with Bertolotti's syndrome have characteristic lumbosacral anomalies and often have severe sciatica. We describe a patient with this syndrome in whom standard decompression of the affected nerve root failed, but endoscopic lumbosacral extraforaminal decompression relieved the symptoms. We suggest that the intractable sciatica in this syndrome could arise from impingement of the nerve r...

Foraminal disc herniation at the C2–3 level is a very rare entity, for which consensus treatment protocol has not been established. This case report explains that unilateral biportal endoscopic foraminotomy effective, minimally invasive, and safe procedure this condition. A 62-year-old woman presented to our clinic with complaints of 6-week history posterior axial neck pain sudden onset hypoest...

BACKGROUND The causes of upper extremity radicular pain or neck pain are varied, often involving disc herniation, spinal stenosis, or spondylosis. Cervical transformaminal epidural steroid injection (C-TFESI) is a common treatment for such pain. However, its efficacy conceivably may depend on needle-tip placement, linking the degree of pain reduction achieved to the pattern of contrast dispersi...

Surgical decompression for cervical radiculopathy includes anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, anterior or posterior cervical foraminotomy, and cervical arthroplasty after decompression. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of a CO2 laser in posterior-approach surgery for unilateral cervical radiculopathy. From January 2006 to December 2008, 12 consecutive patients with uni...