Follow-up of at least five years after lumbar transforaminal epidural steroid injection for radicular pain due to lumbar disc herniation

Herniation of the lumbar disc (HLD) is the most common cause of sciatica (1). Inflammatory materials surrounding a herniated disc can irritate the nerve root, causing radicular pain. Transforaminal epidural steroid injections (TFESIs) reduce inflammation around the nerve root, thus alleviating lumbar radicular pain (1). Several previous studies have demonstrated positive short-term effects of TFESI in reducing lumbar radicular pain (1,2). However, little is known about its long-term outcomes. We investigated the outcome of TFESI after at least five years in patients with HLD-induced radicular pain.