DOI: 10.38053/acmj.2008689 ISSN: 2718-0115

Clinical outcomes of thoracic interlaminar epidural steroid injections for chronic thoracic pain in a postherpetic neuralgia-predominant cohort: a retrospective single-center study

Şükriye Dadalı, Mustafa Cem Yılmaz, Ali Çoştu, Ülkü Sabuncu, Gülçin Babaoğlu, Nevcihan Şahutoğlu Bal, Tolga Kaplan, Erkan Yavuz Akçaboy
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Aims: To evaluate clinical outcomes, patient-reported global improvement, and documented adverse events associated with thoracic interlaminar epidural steroid injections in a real-world cohort with chronic thoracic pain, predominantly postherpetic neuralgia (PHN).Methods: This retrospective single-center study included consecutive adults who underwent thoracic interlaminar epidural steroid injection between January 2022 and December 2025. Pain intensity was assessed using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) at baseline and at 1 and 6 months. Global Perceived Effect (GPE), ≥30% and ≥50% NRS responder rates, repeat injections, and documented adverse events were evaluated. Limited missing follow-up information was completed by telephone in five patients under the ethics-approved protocol. Changes in NRS were analyzed using the Friedman test with Bonferroni-adjusted Wilcoxon signed-rank comparisons.Results: Forty-one patients were included; PHN was the predominant etiology (24/41, 58.5%). Median NRS decreased from 7.0 (IQR, 1.0; range, 6-9) at baseline to 3.0 (IQR, 4.0; range, 0-8) at 1 month and 1.0 (IQR, 3.5; range, 0-7) at 6 months (overall p

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