Is epidural steroid injection effective for degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis?

Abstract

There are several nonsurgical alternatives to treat radicular pain in degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis. Epidural steroid injections have been used for several decades, but the different studies have shown variable effects. Searching in Epistemonikos database, which is maintained by screening 30 databases, we identified nine systematic reviews including seven pertinent randomized controlled trials. We concluded epidural steroid injection probably leads to little or no effect on reducing radicular pain of spinal stenosis.

• Authors: Sebastián Flores, Marcelo Molina
• Journal: Medwave (Medwave) Vol. 15 Suppl 3 Pg. e6315 (Nov 16 2015) ISSN: 0717-6384 [Electronic] Chile
• PMID: 26610278 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Meta-Analysis)

Chemical References

• Glucocorticoids

Topics

• Glucocorticoids (administration & dosage, therapeutic use)
• Humans
• Injections, Epidural
• Lumbar Vertebrae
• Radiculopathy (drug therapy, etiology)
• Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
• Spinal Stenosis (drug therapy, pathology)