Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Volume 89, Issue 3 , Pages 543-552 , March 2008

The Basis for Recommending Repeating Epidural Steroid Injections for Radicular Low Back Pain: A Literature Review

  • Suzanne Novak, MD, PhD

      Affiliations

    • College of Pharmacy, University of Texas, Austin, TX
    • Corresponding Author InformationReprint requests to Suzanne Novak, MD, PhD, College of Pharmacy, University of Texas, 1600 Flintridge, Austin, TX 78746
    • ,
  • William C. Nemeth, MD

      Affiliations

    • SOMI Healthlink, Austin, TX.

References 

  1. McLain RF, Kapural L, Mekhail NA. Epidural steroid therapy for back and leg pain: mechanisms of action and efficacy. Spine J. 2005;5:191–201
  2. Abram SE. Treatment of lumbosacral radiculopathy with epidural steroids. Anesthesiology. 1999;91:1937–1941
  3. Cluff R, Mehio AK, Cohen SP, Chang Y, Sang CN, Stojanovic MP. The technical aspects of epidural steroid injections: a national survey. Anesth Analg. 2002;95:403–408
  4. Abram SE. Factors that influence the decision to treat pain of spinal origin with epidural steroid injections. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2001;26:2–4
  5. Weinstein SM, Herring SA, Derby R. Contemporary concepts in spine care (Epidural steroid injections). Spine. 1995;20:1842–1846
  6. Green PW, Burke AJ, Weiss CA, Langan P. The role of epidural cortisone injection in the treatment of diskogenic low back pain. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 1980;Nov-Dec(153):121–125
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  18. Karppinen J, Malmivaara A, Kurunlahti M, et al. Periradicular infiltration for sciatica: a randomized controlled trial. Spine. 2001;26:1059–1067
  19. Vad VB, Bhat AL, Lutz GE, Cammisa F. Transforaminal epidural steroid injections in lumbosacral radiculopathy: a prospective randomized study. Spine. 2002;27:11–16
  20. Botwin KP, Gruber RD, Bouchlas CG, et al. Fluoroscopically guided lumbar transformational epidural steroid injections in degenerative lumbar stenosis: an outcome study. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2002;81:898–905
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  27. Manchikanti L. Role of neuraxial steroids in interventional pain management. Pain Physician. 2002;5:182–199
  28. White AH, Derby R, Wynne G. Epidural injections for the diagnosis and treatment of low-back pain. Spine. 1980;5:78–86
  29. Johnson BA, Schellhas KP, Pollei SR. Epidurography and therapeutic epidural injections: technical considerations and experience with 5334 cases. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 1999;20:697–705
  30. Koes BW, Scholten RJ, Mens JM, Bouter LM. Efficacy of epidural steroid injections for low-back pain and sciatica: a systematic review of randomized clinical trials. Pain. 1995;63:279–288
  31. Renfrew DL, Moore TE, Kathol MH, el-Khoury GY, Lemke JH, Walker CW. Correct placement of epidural steroid injections: fluoroscopic guidance and contrast administration. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 1991;12:1003–1007
  32. Ackerman WE, Ahmad M. The efficacy of lumbar epidural steroid injections in patients with lumbar disc herniations. Anesth Analg. 2007;104:1217–1222
  33. Riew KD, Park JB, Cho YS, et al. Nerve root blocks in the treatment of lumbar radicular pain (A minimum 5-year follow-up). J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2006;88:1722–1725
  34. Armon C, Argoff CE, Samuels J, Backonja MM Therapeutics and Technology Assessment Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology. Assessment: use of epidural steroid injections to treat radicular lumbosacral pain: report of the Therapeutics and Technology Assessment Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology. Neurology. 2007;68:723–729
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 No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the author or upon any organization with which the authors are associated.

PII: S0003-9993(07)01797-2

doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2007.11.008

Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Volume 89, Issue 3 , Pages 543-552 , March 2008

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