Feasibility of Contralateral Oblique Fluoroscopy-guided Cervical Interlaminar Steroid Injections

Cervical epidural steroid injection (CESI), given in conjunction with local anesthetics, is a common remedy for cervical radicular pain and is generally performed under c-arm fluoroscopic guidance, computed tomography (CT), or ultrasound. Interlaminar procedures, such as CESI, typically rely on anteroposterior and lateral (APL) views during needle placement. However, lateral views may be obscured by body habitus in certain individuals. Swimmer's view or contralateral oblique (CLO) view may be used to avoid this.

Our intent was to assess technical success and procedural risk in patients subjected to image-guided CESI procedures with CLO c-arm fluoroscopy.

A total of 186 of patients were enrolled and randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups undergoing image-guided CESI via (1) CT, (2) c-arm fluoroscopy CLO, and (3) c-arm fluoroscopy APL. Complication rates and technical success were assessed, basing the latter on image reviews to confirm the presence of epidural contrast.

All image-guided CESI procedures utilizing CT and CLO fluoroscopy proved technically successful. In the CT group, epidural needle tip and contrast dispersion were clearly visible at all levels of study. In the CLO subset, needle tip visibility was unclear in isolated instances at levels C6-7 and C7-T1 (1 patient each level). In APL procedures, needle tip was regularly obscured by shoulder anatomy at levels C6-7 (26 of 41 patients) and C7-T1 (15 of 16 patients), and contrast dispersion was often uncertain.

CLO fluoroscopy-guided CESI is feasible and safe, comparing favorably with CT-guided CESI.