ClinicalTrials.gg
Status unknownNCT03453775Updated Apr 10, 2018

Ultrasound-guided Lumbar Periradicular Injection: a Non Irradiating Infiltration Technique

An interventional study of Ultrasound guided periradicular lumbar infiltration and Fluoroscopy guided periradicular lumbar infiltration in Low Back Pain, Sciatica and Disc, Herniated, sponsored by Université Libre de Bruxelles. Status unknown at 1 site in Belgium. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 70 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2018-04-10.

Sponsored by Université Libre de Bruxelles · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

The sponsor has not verified this record recently (last verified Apr 2018), so the status shown — last known as Recruiting — may be out of date.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
100
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 70 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

We propose here to evaluate the precision of lumbar periradicular infiltration performed under a transverse ultrasound approach by performing a fluoroscopic control once the needle in the desired position. The effectiveness of the technique will be assessed by measuring different pain and disability scores at four weeks post-infiltration: the Visual analogue pain Scale score, the DN4 score, and the Oswestry disability score (ODI); The decrease in irradiation received will be collected, compared to that of the conventional fluoroscopic technique.

Read the detailed description

Foraminal periradicular infiltrations for therapeutic purposes are currently recognized as an integral part of the treatment of radiculalgia, particularly in case of radiculalgia refractory to a well-conducted initial treatment, in combination with the rehabilitation and education of the patient. The incidence of low back pain, lumbar pain or pure radiculalgia in the general population is very high. In fact, the majority of people will experience at least once in their life low back pain or neck pain, favored by the growing aging of the population. This leads us to propose infiltrative techniques more and more modern, as much in the technique performed as in the type of medication used, presenting the best risk / benefit ratio. Infiltrations guided by imaging tend to become less and less "invasive", with the undeniable contribution of ultrasound as a major tool in the diagnostic and therapeutic approaches, both in specialized pain management clinic as in other medical specialties. To date, infiltrations are still mostly performed under fluoroscopic control by injection of contrast medium (epidurography), or under CT control, where the identification of the anatomical structures and therefore the target allows a greater accuracy of the level of infiltration. These two techniques have proven their effectiveness, but have significant disadvantages, such as the irradiation of the patient as well as that of the practitioner because of the number of daily acts performed; their cost, and the need for a radiologist in the case of a CT technique. For its part, ultrasound is easily available, easy to use, represents a lower cost, and the lack of irradiation.

In recent years ultrasound has proved effective in identifying anatomical structures of the spine and in the techniques of lumbar periradicular infiltration, whether performed in sagittal paramedian or oblique sagittal paramedian, the latter having shown a better intra-foraminal distribution of the injected product. (39.5% vs 87.5% in terms of intraforaminal diffusion of the contrast medium). In addition, teams have shown the superiority of ultrasound-guided lumbar foraminal infiltration compared with CT control in terms of time spent on infiltration, for exact accuracy in 90% of patients, and an improvement in radiculalgia at 1 month similar between the two techniques.

We propose here to evaluate the precision of lumbar periradicular infiltration performed under a transverse ultrasound approach by performing a fluoroscopic control once the needle in the desired position. The effectiveness of the technique will be assessed by measuring different pain and disability scores at four weeks post-infiltration: the Visual analogue pain scale score, the DN4 score, and the Oswestry disability score (ODI); The decrease in irradiation received will be collected, compared to that of the conventional fluoroscopic technique.

02

Conditions studied

  • Low Back Pain
  • Sciatica
  • Disc, Herniated
  • Foraminal Hernia
  • Lumbar Foraminal Stenosis
  • Chronic Low Back Pain
  • Pain, Chronic
  • Injection Site Infiltration
03

In context

Low Back Pain

2,922 studies on the registry are indexed under Low Back Pain; 580 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 100 is above the median of 60 across 2,364 interventional studies indexed under Low Back Pain.

Browse Low Back Pain studies →

Lead sponsor

Université Libre de Bruxelles is the lead sponsor of 45 studies on the registry; 13 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 70 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • neurology, neurosurgery, physical medicine, algology consultation
  • over the age of 18
  • Radiculalgia in the territory corresponding to the root lesion
  • Symptomatology inferior to two months.
  • Imaging (CT scan or MRI) or electromyographic study with evidence (foraminal disc herniation or foraminal stenosis) of the irritation or the causal compression of the radicular symptomatology

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • allergy to any of the constituents of the infiltrated product, or to the contrast medium
  • unstable medical condition: cardiac, respiratory, endocrine (uncontrolled diabetes)
  • inability to put himself in a prone position
  • depression: HADS score equal to or greater than 11.
  • root lesion caused by an accident at work, a tumoral or infectious causal process.
  • local infection (cutaneous, perimedullary / spinal) or systemic
  • coagulopathy ( \<50000 / mm3, \<60%, INTernational normalized ratio> 1.5), anticoagulant or antiplatelet therapy treatment other than aspirin
  • Lumbar surgical history
  • history of foraminal or perimedullary infiltration of less than 6 months
  • symptoms older than two months
  • pregnant woman
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(2)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Platelets

Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.

INR, PT and aPTT (clotting tests)

Blood tests of how long blood takes to clot. The INR is the prothrombin time (PT) put on a common scale; about 1 is usual for someone not taking a blood thinner.

Criteria often make an exception for people on a blood thinner such as warfarin, whose INR is raised on purpose.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
100 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Ultrasound guided infiltration

    Ultrasound guided periradicular lumbar infiltration. Prone position. Lumbar spine level located in a median sagittal plane (spinous processes). High resolution curved 5MHz ultrasound probe. Probe is then rotated 90° for a median transverse image. Transverse plane translation towards desired side to have in the same plane: spinous process, vertebral blade, zygapophysial articulation, lateral facet, transverse process. Needle passes skin at 45° angle, directed "in plane" to the foramen. Fluoroscopy then performed to check needle's correct position. Poorly positioned needles will be replaced to obtain an intra-foraminal/epidural periradicular diffusion of the contrast medium. Once position is confirmed, Depomedrol 40mg + lidocaine 2% (1ml) is injected.

    Device: Ultrasound guided periradicular lumbar infiltration

  • Active comparator
    Fluoroscopy guided infiltration

    Fluoroscopy guided periradicular lumbar infiltration. Prone position. Anatomical identification by radioscopy: antero-posterior and sagittal planes. Needle placement in an anteroposterior view, needle is then advanced in an inclined plane of 20° with respect to the initial axis, "tunnel vision" type image. Foramen is then reached in a sagittal view (not to progress too far in the intra-foraminal level). Needle progression is secured by neurostimulation (territory concerned by the root, intensity 0.2 milliampere to be at a distance of 1mm from the nerve root). Once needle is in place, fluoroscopy is performed to verify correct positioning (Omnipaque 300mg/ml of Iohexol, 0.2 to 0.5ml). Once position confirmed, mixture Depomedrol 40mg + lidocaine 2% (1ml) is injected.

    Device: Fluoroscopy guided periradicular lumbar infiltration

Interventions

  • DeviceUltrasound guided periradicular lumbar infiltration

    Once position of the needle is confirmed, the mixture Depomedrol 40mg + Lidocaine 2% (1ml) is injected, under neurostimulation with an intensity of 0.2 milliampere (identifies a distance of 1mm from the nerve root allowing the protection of the root of a lesion by the needle).

  • DeviceFluoroscopy guided periradicular lumbar infiltration

    Once position of the needle is confirmed, the mixture Depomedrol 40mg + Lidocaine 2% (1ml) is injected, under neurostimulation with an intensity of 0.2 milliampere (identifies a distance of 1mm from the nerve root allowing the protection of the root of a lesion by the needle).

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Effectiveness of needle placement under ultrasound guidance

    Good position: G. Wrong position: W.

    Time frame: Before infiltration

Secondary outcomes

  1. Irradiation doses

    centiGray. Radioscopy irradiation doses will be calculated in each procedure, to determine how efficient the ultrasound approach is, compared to fluoroscopy only.

    Time frame: 24h

  2. Visual analogue scale

    0/10 (minimum) to 10/10 (maximum)

    Time frame: Baseline, 2weeks, 4weeks

  3. Neuropathic pain score: DN4

    Score /10

    Time frame: Baseline, 2 weeks, 4 weeks

  4. Oswestry Disability index

    % out of 50 questions (0/50= 0% to 50/50=100%)

    Time frame: Baseline, 2 weeks, 4 weeks

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • Hopital Erasme
    Anderlecht, Bruxelles 1070, Belgium
    Recruiting
    • · Contact+3225553111
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Gangi A, Dietemann JL, Mortazavi R, Pfleger D, Kauff C, Roy C. CT-guided interventional procedures for pain management in the lumbosacral spine. Radiographics. 1998 May-Jun;18(3):621-33. doi: 10.1148/radiographics.18.3.9599387. PubMed 9599387 ↗
  • Galiano K, Obwegeser AA, Bodner G, Freund M, Maurer H, Kamelger FS, Schatzer R, Ploner F. Real-time sonographic imaging for periradicular injections in the lumbar spine: a sonographic anatomic study of a new technique. J Ultrasound Med. 2005 Jan;24(1):33-8. doi: 10.7863/jum.2005.24.1.33. PubMed 15615926 ↗
  • Obernauer J, Galiano K, Gruber H, Bale R, Obwegeser AA, Schatzer R, Loizides A. Ultrasound-guided versus computed tomography-controlled periradicular injections in the middle and lower cervical spine: a prospective randomized clinical trial. Eur Spine J. 2013 Nov;22(11):2532-7. doi: 10.1007/s00586-013-2916-0. Epub 2013 Jul 23. PubMed 23877110 ↗
  • Gofeld M, Bristow SJ, Chiu SC, McQueen CK, Bollag L. Ultrasound-guided lumbar transforaminal injections: feasibility and validation study. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2012 Apr 20;37(9):808-12. doi: 10.1097/BRS.0b013e3182340096. PubMed 21912311 ↗
  • Kim YH, Park HJ, Moon DE. Ultrasound-guided Pararadicular Injection in the Lumbar Spine: A Comparative Study of the Paramedian Sagittal and Paramedian Sagittal Oblique Approaches. Pain Pract. 2015 Nov;15(8):693-700. doi: 10.1111/papr.12249. Epub 2014 Oct 14. PubMed 25313534 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Started Feb 2018 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Apr 2018, 2 months after the start.

Of 1,231 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Low Back Pain, half reached primary completion within 11 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 5 and three quarters within 26. This study's planned 2 months is below that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 1,286 studies reached it within 11 months; a quarter within 5 and three quarters within 27.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Jan 16, 2018
First posted
Mar 5, 2018
StartActual
Feb 27, 2018
Primary completionEst.
Apr 30, 2018
CompletionEst.
May 30, 2018
Last update
Apr 10, 2018
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Apr 10, 2018, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03453775
Lead sponsor
Université Libre de Bruxelles
Responsible party
Paul Gruson (Principal Investigator, Université Libre de Bruxelles) — Principal investigator
First posted
Mar 5, 2018
Start date
Feb 27, 2018
Primary completion
Apr 30, 2018 (estimated)
Completion
May 30, 2018 (estimated)
Last update
Apr 10, 2018

Study contacts

Gruson
Contact
paulgruson.dr@gmail.com
0032 2 555 5850
Van Obbergh
Contact
0032 2 555 5330
Van Obbergh
study director · Chief of staff Anesthesiology

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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