Epidural Injections Fall Short for Aching Back
Reported March 6, 2007

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Don’t look to epidural steroid injections to ease your lower back pain.

Researchers who reviewed the medical literature on the injections find they provide little relief for pain that starts in the back and radiates down the leg. While some patients do perceive a slight lessening of pain a few weeks following the injections, the relief is short-lived, lasting less than three months. The injections also don’t help people avoid back surgery.

“While some pain relief is a positive result in and of itself, the extent of leg and back pain relief from epidural steroid injections, on the average, fell short of the values typically viewed as clinically meaningful,” writes Carmel Armon, M.D., M.H.S, a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology. She co-authored the study, which includes a new clinical practice guideline aimed at helping doctors decide whether to use the treatment.

Statistics show such a guideline is sorely needed. In 1999, more than 40 million Americans covered by Medicare received the injections to the tune of about $50 million in Medicare claims.

The authors note back pain is a significant health problem that’s growing in prevalence, possibly due to the obesity epidemic in America.

SOURCE: Neurology, 2007;68:723-729