Insufficient Research on Interventional Pain Therapies for Managing Low Back Pain during Pregnancy

In nonpregnant patients, fluoroscopy-guided epidural steroid injections (ESIs) have strong evidence (Level 1) supporting their use for managing low back pain (LBP) caused by disc herniation (DH) [1]. Fluoroscopy-guided interventional procedures cannot be used in pregnant patients due to the risk of exposing the fetus to ionizing radiation. Non-image-guided ESI using the loss of resistance technique, combined with ultrasound for localization, is a safe option for pregnant patients. However, the use and effect of interventional procedures like ESI for radicular low back pain in pregnant patients have not been studied.
Source: Physiotherapy - Category: Physiotherapy Authors: Source Type: research