Demographic and clinical characteristics of participants at baseline (N=117)
| C-CIESI | CTFESI | P value | |
| Sample size, n | 57 | 60 | |
| Gender | 0.80 | ||
| Male | 26 (45.6) | 26 (43.3) | |
| Female | 31 (54.4) | 34 (56.7) | |
| Current everyday smoking | 0.58 | ||
| Yes | 10 (17.5) | 13 (21.7) | |
| No | 47 (82.5) | 47 (78.3) | |
| Pain-related trauma | 0.03 | ||
| Yes | 7 (12.3) | 17 (28.3) | |
| No | 50 (87.7) | 43 (71.7) | |
| Duration of symptoms (months) | 0.74 | ||
| 1.5 | 13 (22.8) | 9 (15.0) | |
| 2 | 10 (17.5) | 9 (15.0) | |
| 3 | 9 (15.8) | 12 (20.0) | |
| 4 | 9 (15.8) | 11 (18.3) | |
| 5 | 9 (15.8) | 14 (23.3) | |
| 6 | 7 (12.3) | 5 (8.4) | |
| C4 radicular pain | 0.94 | ||
| Yes | 4 (7.0) | 4 (6.7) | |
| No | 53 (93.0) | 56 (93.3) | |
| C5 radicular pain | 0.91 | ||
| Yes | 8 (14.0) | 8 (13.3) | |
| No | 49 (86.0) | 52 (86.7) | |
| C6 radicular pain | 0.61 | ||
| Yes | 23 (40.4) | 27 (45.0) | |
| No | 34 (59.6) | 33 (55.0) | |
| C7 radicular pain | 0.99 | ||
| Yes | 18 (31.6) | 19 (31.7) | |
| No | 39 (68.4) | 41 (68.3) | |
| C8 radicular pain | 0.43* | ||
| Yes | 4 (7.0) | 2 (3.3) | |
| No | 53 (93.0) | 58 (96.7) | |
| Mean age (SD), years | 53.6 (12.7) | 51.1 (12.2) | 0.28† |
| Mean body mass index (SD), kg/m2 | 27.4 (6.8) | 28.9 (6.3) | 0.23† |
| Mean ‘dominant’‡ NRS (SD) at baseline | 6.7 (2.0) | 6.7 (1.8) | 0.99† |
| Mean average neck NRS (SD) at baseline | 5.9 (2.5) | 5.6 (2.3) | 0.50† |
| Mean average arm NRS (SD) at baseline | 4.9 (3.0) | 5.5 (2.7) | 0.24† |
| Mean NDI-5 (SD) at baseline | 7.5 (4.1) | 9.2 (3.9) | 0.03† |
| Mean MQS-III (SD) at baseline | 5.0 (6.7) | 5.5 (6.1) | 0.70† |
Values are frequencies (%) unless specified otherwise.
*From Fisher’s exact test.
†From independent t-test.
‡'Dominant’ NRS: the greater of arm or neck pain.
§P value from Pearson’s χ2 test unless specified otherwise.
C-CIESI, catheter-targeted cervical interlaminar epidural steroid injection; CTFESI, Cervical transforaminal epidural steroid injection; MQS-III, Medication Quantification Scale (version III); NDI-5, Neck Disability Index (five-item version).