Skip Navigation


BJA Advance Access originally published online on June 25, 2009
British Journal of Anaesthesia 2009 103(3):416-419; doi:10.1093/bja/aep166
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
103/3/416    most recent
aep166v1
Right arrow E-Letters: Submit a response to the article
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Richardson, J.
Right arrow Articles by Gupta, S.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Richardson, J.
Right arrow Articles by Gupta, S.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?


© The Author [2009]. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Journal of Anaesthesia. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournal.org

Bilateral L1 and L2 dorsal root ganglion blocks for discogenic low-back pain

J. Richardson1,*, N. Collinghan1, A. J. Scally2 and S. Gupta1

1 Department of Anaesthetics and Pain, Bradford Royal Infirmary, Bradford BD9 6RJ, UK
2 School of Health Studies, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK

* Corresponding author. E-mail: docjohnnyr{at}hotmail.com

Background: It is possible that interruption of nociceptive input from intervertebral discs can be modulated through bilateral L1 and L2 dorsal root ganglia (DRG) blockade. In order to test this hypothesis, we prospectively collected data from patients with low-lumbar pain, accurately diagnosed as discogenic using provocation discography.

Methods: Twelve patients were recruited with a mean (SD) symptom duration of 13.7 (8.2) years. Bilateral DRG blocks of L1 and L2 were performed using methylprednisolone 80 mg, clonidine 75 µg and 0.5% bupivacaine 4 ml in each patient.

Results: Analysis of Brief Pain Inventories showed no significant change in pain scores.

Conclusion: We conclude that blocks of this nociceptive pathway in humans using bilateral DRG blocks has no therapeutic value.

Keywords: anaesthetic techniques, regional; pain, chronic; pain, neurolysis; sympathetic nervous system, adrenergic block


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.