Retrospective assessment of patients with epiduroscopy administered in the algology clinic of Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine

Low back pain affects most adult individuals during at least one period of life, and is a common health problem that is the second place among reasons for applying to doctors and causes loss of labor and lowers quality of life. Chronic low back pain treatment may be applied with non-surgical interventional procedures. Epiduroscopy is a minimal invasive technique that may be used for diagnostic or therapeutic aims related to chronic low back pain. It is routinely applied to patients with chronic low back pain in Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine Algology department. In our study we aimed to observe how much benefit patients administered epiduroscopy received from the procedure. For this, the 148 patients included in the study completed a standard question form 1 year after the procedure and the results were assessed. The majority of these patients were female (61.5%), with mean age of 56.6 years. When patients are generally assessed, there was a significant fall in VAS scores after the procedure. Additionally, patients were observed to experience significant relief in daily activities and nighttime sleeping due to less pain after the procedure. In conclusion, the epiduroscopy procedure is an effective diagnostic and treatment method for patients with chronic low back pain that increases general quality of life in addition to reducing pain. Key Words: Epiduroscopy, chronic low back pain, lumbar stenosis