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Objective. Response to lumbar epidural steroid injection in lumbar radicular pain varies. The purpose of this study is to characterize the changes in quantitative sensory testing (QST) phenotypes of subjects and compare the QST characteristics in patients who do respond to treatment of radicular pain with a lumbar epidural steroid injection (ESI).

Design. Prospective, observational pilot study.

Setting. Outpatient pain center.

Methods. Twenty subjects with a lower extremity (LE) radicular pain who were scheduled to have an ESI were recruited. At the visit prior to and four weeks following an ESI, subjects underwent QST measurements of both the affected LE and the contralateral unaffected UE.

Results. Following an ESI, nine subjects reported a greater than 30% reduction in radicular pain and 11 reported a less …