The Use of Lumbar Epidural/Transforaminal Steroids for Managing Spinal Disease

Autor: Garrett S. Hyman, Irene A. Young, Llewellyn N. Packia-Raj, Andrew J. Cole
Rok vydání: 2007
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. 15:228-238
ISSN: 1067-151X
Popis: Lumbar epidural steroid injections are used to manage low back and leg pain (ie, sciatica). Utilization of the procedure is increasing, with Medicare spending for lumbar epidural procedures topping $175 million annually. Few prospective randomized controlled trials have clearly demonstrated the efficacy of epidural steroid injections; many have shown conflicting results. Several studies show favorable short-term outcomes with epidural steroid injection for radicular pain, but less conclusive results are achieved >6 months. Methodologic flaws limit interpretation of results from most scientific studies. As a tool for predicting surgical outcome, epidural spinal injection has been found to have a sensitivity between 65% and 100%, a specificity between 71% and 95%, and a positive predictive value as high as 95% for 1-year surgical outcome. Despite inconclusive evidence, when weighing the surgical alternatives and associated risk, cost, and outcomes, lumbar epidural steroid injections are a reasonable nonsurgical option in select patients.
Databáze: OpenAIRE