Interventional therapies for chronic low back pain.

Area of Science:

• Pain Medicine
• Neurosurgery
• Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Background:

• Low back pain (LBP) is a widespread condition causing significant disability and economic burden.
• Despite advances in understanding LBP pathophysiology, functional outcomes remain suboptimal.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the role and effectiveness of interventional pain procedures in managing chronic LBP.
• To analyze the evidence supporting various interventional techniques for LBP.

Main Methods:

• A narrative review of published studies on interventional procedures for LBP.
• Discussion of rationales, indications, techniques, evidence, and complications of these procedures.

Main Results:

• Interventional procedures are widely used for chronic pain diagnosis and treatment.
• Established procedures like spinal cord stimulation and epidural steroid injections show studied efficacy for specific LBP conditions.
• Interventions for discogenic pain have yielded modest success rates.

Conclusions:

• Interventional pain procedures can improve pain intensity in the short to medium term for LBP.
• Functional improvements following these interventions are inconsistent, requiring further investigation.