Sodium channel blockers are drugs that impair the conduction of sodium ions (Na+) through sodium channels.
The role of Sodium Channel blockers and steroids is well-established for pain relief in neuropathic pain by reducing inflammation and desensitization of nerve roots. A study aims at analyzing the effectiveness of multimodal cocktail injections for radicular pain relief & functional outcomes in patients with intervertebral disc herniation.
This was a Mixed design (prospective & retrospective) cohort study; they included 113 patients between the age group of 18-70 years, diagnosed with Prolapse of intervertebral disc (PIVD) with lower limb radiculopathy with MRI finding L4-L5/L5-S1 vertebral disc involvement. Patients were injected with a total of 15 ml of cocktail injection in 3 divided doses at 3 identified sites in the affected lower limb. . Patient was examined & evaluated clinically for VAS pain score, SLRT, Sensory, and Motor Examination on day 2, day 7, day 15 & after 1 month.
They found that the mean pre-VAS score was 7.83 followed by the mean VAS score on post-2 days was 1.05, post-7 days was 3.47, post-15 days was 3.9, and post-30 days was 3.81. There was a statistically significant difference in the mean VAS score (p-value<0.0001). After the one-month majority of patients (54.62%) had a comfortable painless walk and the comfortable walking distance increased up to 1 km in 45.37% of them.
The use of cocktail multimodal injections for radiculopathy pain suggests that this non-operative, OPD-based technique could be reasonable, efficient, and safe 1)