A meta-analysis of the literature on epidural corticosteroid injections for the treatment of sciatica, incorporating data from 23 trials, has shown that this treatment has no effect on long-term (≥12 months) pain or disability. Leg pain, back pain and disability levels were converted to 0–100 scales. Small but statistically significant differences were seen in short-term (>2 weeks but ≤3 months) leg pain and disability, with mean changes of −6.2 and −3.1, respectively. Nevertheless, thresholds for clinically important changes are considered to be between 10 and 30.
ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER
Pinto, R. Z. et al. Epidural corticosteroid injections in the management of sciatica: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Ann. Intern. Med. (in press)
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Corticosteroid injections offer scant relief from sciatica. Nat Rev Rheumatol 9, 2 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2012.214
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2012.214