Comments on: Penetration of a Cervical Radicular Artery during a Transforaminal Epidural Injection

Abstract

Dear Editor, As a physician who performs cervical transforaminal injections on a daily basis, I read with great interest the recent case study by Drs. Verrills, Nowesenitz, and Barnard concerning the “inadvertent” cannulation of a cervical radicular artery during the conduct of a C5-6 transforaminal injection [1]. The images of the radicular-medullary artery and its anastamoses with the anterior spinal artery are exceptional, although the small size of the pictures makes interpretation challenging. As noted by the authors, over the past decade, several dozen catastrophic complications have been reported following cervical, and lumbar, transforaminal injections. Questions have been appropriately raised as …