- Home
- Medical news & Guidelines
- Anesthesiology
- Cardiology and CTVS
- Critical Care
- Dentistry
- Dermatology
- Diabetes and Endocrinology
- ENT
- Gastroenterology
- Medicine
- Nephrology
- Neurology
- Obstretics-Gynaecology
- Oncology
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopaedics
- Pediatrics-Neonatology
- Psychiatry
- Pulmonology
- Radiology
- Surgery
- Urology
- Laboratory Medicine
- Diet
- Nursing
- Paramedical
- Physiotherapy
- Health news
- Fact Check
- Bone Health Fact Check
- Brain Health Fact Check
- Cancer Related Fact Check
- Child Care Fact Check
- Dental and oral health fact check
- Diabetes and metabolic health fact check
- Diet and Nutrition Fact Check
- Eye and ENT Care Fact Check
- Fitness fact check
- Gut health fact check
- Heart health fact check
- Kidney health fact check
- Medical education fact check
- Men's health fact check
- Respiratory fact check
- Skin and hair care fact check
- Vaccine and Immunization fact check
- Women's health fact check
- AYUSH
- State News
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- Andhra Pradesh
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Assam
- Bihar
- Chandigarh
- Chattisgarh
- Dadra and Nagar Haveli
- Daman and Diu
- Delhi
- Goa
- Gujarat
- Haryana
- Himachal Pradesh
- Jammu & Kashmir
- Jharkhand
- Karnataka
- Kerala
- Ladakh
- Lakshadweep
- Madhya Pradesh
- Maharashtra
- Manipur
- Meghalaya
- Mizoram
- Nagaland
- Odisha
- Puducherry
- Punjab
- Rajasthan
- Sikkim
- Tamil Nadu
- Telangana
- Tripura
- Uttar Pradesh
- Uttrakhand
- West Bengal
- Medical Education
- Industry
Epidural Steroid Injections for Back Pain Treatment offer mixed results: AAN

A review by the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) has found that epidural steroid injections (ESIs) provided short-term relief for patients with radiculopathy. However, their effectiveness in other cases was unclear or limited, with minimal impact on reducing overall back pain and disability. The recent study was conducted by Carmel A. and fellow researchers.
ESIs are commonly used for managing pain and disability associated with cervical and lumbar spinal stenosis and radiculopathies. While ESIs have been widely adopted, their long-term effectiveness remains uncertain. This systematic review evaluated evidence from 90 RCTs conducted between January 2005 and January 2021, aiming to clarify the extent of pain relief and functional improvement achieved through ESIs.
The researchers conducted a search of multiple databases for RCTs evaluating the effectiveness of ESIs in cervical and lumbar spinal stenosis and radiculopathies. Because of the large variability in outcome measures across studies, SRD was used to synthesize data standardized for analysis. NNT was also computed for clinical interpretation. The outcomes of short-term and long-term pain and disability measurements were evaluated to determine the efficacy of ESIs.
Key Findings
In cervical and lumbar radiculopathies, ESIs probably reduce short-term pain (SRD -24.0%, 95% CI −34.9 to −12.6, NNT 4) and short-term disability (SRD −16.0%, 95% CI −26.6 to −5, NNT 6).
ESIs possibly reduce long-term disability in radiculopathies (SRD −11.1%, 95% CI −25.3 to 3.6, NNT 9).
There is insufficient evidence to confirm that ESIs reduce long-term pain in radiculopathies (SRD −10.3%, 95% CI −27.8 to 7.6).
In lumbar spinal stenosis, ESIs possibly reduce short-term disability (SRD −26.2%, 95% CI −52.4 to 3.6, NNT 4) and long-term disability (SRD −11.8%, 95% CI −26.9 to 3.8, NNT 8).
However, ESIs do not significantly reduce short-term pain in lumbar stenosis (SRD −3.5%, 95% CI −12.6 to 5.6).
There is insufficient evidence to determine whether ESIs reduce long-term pain in lumbar stenosis (SRD −6.5%, 95% CI −22.5 to 9.8).
In cervical spinal stenosis, evidence is insufficient to determine the effectiveness of ESIs for either pain or disability.
The study authors concluded that ESIs provide only limited benefits in managing pain and disability in cervical and lumbar radiculopathies, with some possible effectiveness in lumbar spinal stenosis, particularly in the short term. Given the variability in outcome measures, further high-quality research is needed to establish the true clinical effectiveness of ESIs.
Reference:
Armon, C., Narayanaswami, P., Potrebic, S., Gronseth, G., Bačkonja, M.-M., Cai, V. L., Dorman, J., Gilligan, C., Heller, S. A., Silsbee, H. M., & Smith, D. B. (2025). Epidural steroids for cervical and lumbar radicular pain and spinal stenosis systematic review summary: Report of the AAN guidelines subcommittee. Neurology, 104(5). https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000213361
Dr Riya Dave has completed dentistry from Gujarat University in 2022. She is a dentist and accomplished medical and scientific writer known for her commitment to bridging the gap between clinical expertise and accessible healthcare information. She has been actively involved in writing blogs related to health and wellness.
Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751