{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,14]],"date-time":"2026-02-14T01:53:02Z","timestamp":1771033982743,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,30]],"date-time":"2024-12-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1735516800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objective: To compare the efficiency of unilateral and bilateral transforaminal epidural steroid injections (TFESI) in patients with unilateral lumbar disc herniation (LDH). Methods: In this prospective randomized single-blinded study, patients with unilateral LDH were randomly divided into two groups: A unilateral TFESI group; and a bilateral TFESI group. The severity of pain and disability were assessed with the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS-11) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) at baseline, 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months after interventions. Treatment response was defined as \u226550% reduction in the NRS-11 at the 3-month follow-up. Changes in medication consumption at 3 months following the interventions were recorded. This study protocol is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06240793). Results: A total of 104 patients were included in the study (n = 58 in the unilateral TFESI group and n = 46 in the bilateral TFESI group). The NRS-11, ODI scores and medical treatment consumption did not differ statistically between the groups at 3 months (p \u02c3 0.05). At 3 months, the rates of patients with a &gt; 50% decrease in NRS-11 scores were 13.8% and 32.6% in the unilateral TFESI group and bilateral TFESI group, respectively. Conclusions: Unilateral and bilateral TFESI both decrease pain severity and disability scores to a similar degree, although bilateral TFESI was more effective in reducing pain severity by over 50% in patients with single-level unilateral LDH.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm14010147","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,31]],"date-time":"2024-12-31T07:00:37Z","timestamp":1735628437000},"page":"147","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Comparison of Unilateral and Bilateral Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injections in Unilateral Lumbar Disc Herniation: A Randomized Controlled Trial"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1598-1844","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hanzade Ayb\u00fcke","family":"\u00dcnal","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, School of Medicine, Ankara University, 06100 Ankara, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6870-2282","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ahmet","family":"Ba\u015far\u0131","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Algology, Kayseri City Hospital, 38080 Kayseri, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-0648-8631","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bahir Kayra","family":"\u00d6zgencil","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine, TOBB University, 06560 Ankara, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"G\u00fcng\u00f6r Enver","family":"\u00d6zgencil","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, School of Medicine, Ankara University, 06100 Ankara, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5086-5916","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"S\u00fcheyla Karada\u011f","family":"Erko\u00e7","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, School of Medicine, Ankara University, 06100 Ankara, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"531","article-title":"Comparative Effects of Different Epidural Injection Approaches on Lumbosacral Radicular Pain: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis","volume":"25","author":"Yun","year":"2022","journal-title":"Pain Phys."},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"e47908","article-title":"Management of Lumbar Disc Herniation: A Systematic Review","volume":"15","author":"Awadalla","year":"2023","journal-title":"Cureus"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"109692","DOI":"10.18632\/oncotarget.22766","article-title":"Progranulin derived engineered protein Atsttrin suppresses TNF-alpha-mediated inflammation in intervertebral disc degenerative disease","volume":"8","author":"Ding","year":"2017","journal-title":"Oncotarget"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"913","DOI":"10.3233\/BMR-181219","article-title":"Mobilisation efficacy in young patients with different stages of degenerative disc disease","volume":"33","author":"Kuligowski","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. 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