J Korean Pain Soc.  2000 Jun;13(1):74-78.

Comparative Study for Analgesic and Adverse Effects of 8% and 10% Hypertonic Saline in Epidural Adhesiolysis

• Oh WS
• Hong KH
• Lee SC

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Epidural Adhesiolysis is an interventional pain management technique for patients with low back pain. In addition to local anesthetics and corticosteroid, hypertonic saline (NaC1) are used for the technique. Present study was aimed to compare analgesic and adverse effects of two different concentration of hypertonic saline in Epidural Adhesiolysis.
METHODS
Fifty-three subjects with low back pain with radiculopathy were assigned to one of two epidural adhesiolysis treatment groups: 8% (Group I, n 26) or 10% (Group II, n 27) hypertonic saline. 17 G epidural needle was inserted at sacral hiatus and catheter was advanced untill its tip was located at lesion site under fluoroscopic guidance. Subjects in all treatment groups received epidural corticosteroid and local anesthetic. And then, hypertonic saline injection via catheter were carried out daily for 3 days. Evaluation included assessment of pain relief (Numerical Rating Scale; NRS) at post-epidural adhesiolysis 1, 2, 3 days, 1 week, and 1, 3 months. We also looked for complications of epidural adhesiolysis at different concentration of hypertonic saline.
RESULTS
Statistical analysis demonstrated that NRS was not significantly different between two groups during 3 months after epidural adhesiolysis. There were no major differences of complications between two groups and disappeard after a few months without residual sequelae.
CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that epidural adhesiolysis using 8% hypertonic saline is effective for relief of low back pain with proven lumbosacral fibrosis without any residual sequelae compared with 10%.

Keyword

Analgesia, epidural; Complication; Fluids, hypertonic saline; Pain, low back pain

MeSH Terms

Analgesia, Epidural
Anesthetics, Local
Catheters
Fibrosis
Humans
Low Back Pain
Needles
Pain Management
Radiculopathy
Anesthetics, Local