Abstract
The selective nerve root block (SNRB) is a procedure utilized in pain management both for its diagnostic and therapeutic advantages. It has a history dating back to the turn of the previous century. Shortly after the manufacturing of procaine, Sellhiem described a paravertebral block (1). In 1922, Lawen described the use of procaine to perform a diagnostic paravertebral block, the first report of using an anesthetic to perform a diagnostic block (1). In 1930, White performed landmark work using procaine to define pathways of peripheral pain (2). The use of lidocaine for nerve blocks started in the early 1950s, after Erdtman synthesized it in 1943 (1). When corticosteroids were synthesized and became available in the 1950s, these were combined with the anesthetics to attempt to provide a longer lasting result. It has more recently also been proposed that this technique be combined with an epidural injection using a transforaminal approach as a more effective means of treating radicular back pain (3).
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Griffin, D.J. (2004). Selective Nerve Root Blocks. In: McGraw, J.K. (eds) Interventional Radiology of the Spine. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-418-4_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-418-4_8
Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ
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