The Role of Temporal Changes in Pain Response After Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injection on Treatment Success

Transforaminal epidural steroid injection (TFESI) is a commonly used minimally invasive procedure for the treatment of lumbar radicular pain secondary to disc herniation. Although TFESI has been shown to provide significant pain relief in a substantial proportion of patients, the onset, duration, and temporal pattern of pain relief after the procedure vary considerably among individuals. The relationship between early pain response patterns and long-term treatment success remains poorly understood. This prospective observational study aims to evaluate whether temporal changes in pain intensity following TFESI, particularly during the early post-procedural period, are associated with clinical treatment success at mid- and long-term follow-up. Pain intensity will be assessed using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) at predefined time points following the procedure, and treatment success will be defined as a ≥50% reduction in NRS score compared with baseline.

NCT Number	NCT07367191
Lead Sponsor	Marmara University
Conditions	Lumbar Disc Herniation, Lumbar Radiculopathy, Radicular Low Back Pain, Sciatica
Enrollment	120 participants
Start Date	2026-02-15
Primary Completion	2026-08-16 (estimated)
Study Completion	2026-10-15 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2026-01-26