RESEARCH ARTICLE
Relief of Lower Back and Leg Pain after Myelography
Rui Guo1, 2, Toshihiko Sakakibara2, Tetsutaro Mizuno2, Koji Akeda3, Tetsushi Kondo4, Yuichi Kasai2, *
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2016Volume: 10
First Page: 539
Last Page: 542
Publisher ID: TOORTHJ-10-539
DOI: 10.2174/1874325001610010539
Article History:
Received Date: 15/08/2016Revision Received Date: 21/10/2016
Acceptance Date: 28/10/2016
Electronic publication date: 16/11/2016
Collection year: 2016
open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 International Public License (CC BY-NC 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode), which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Introduction:
It is well-known that many patients will have adverse reactions such as headache and nausea after undergoing myelography, but we have often seen cases where symptoms such as lower back pain and leg pain were alleviated following myelography. To the best of our knowledge, such clinical cases of post-myelographic alleviation have not been reported.
Materials and Methods:
A total of 325 patients with a degenerative lumbar spinal disorder who underwent myelography were prospectively investigated at four hospitals from April 2012 to March 2014 to survey the post-myelographic alleviation of lower back and leg pain prospectively. The severities of lower back pain, leg pain and numbness of the lower extremities were evaluated and intermittent claudication distance was measured before myelography. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings and myelographic findings were also evaluated for the patients that their symptoms were improved.
Results:
Thirty-five of 325 cases (10.8%) of these patients had their symptoms alleviated after undergoing myelography; 26 cases of lower back pain, two cases of leg pain, two cases of numbness of the lower extremity, and five cases of intermittent claudication.
Conclusion:
In the patients of a degenerative lumbar spinal disorder, about 10% cases with lower back pain or intermittent claudication had post-myelographic alleviation. Intradural injection therapy might be a therapeutic method to alleviate these symptoms.
