Epidural steroid injection shows great promise for sciatica

The effectiveness of epidural steroid injections in treating sciatica caused by lumbar disc herniation has been newly revealed by researchers, potentially altering approaches to pain management.

Jianan Zhang et al. collected data from various randomized control trials using epidural steroid injections to treat sciatica from PubMed and various other databases. The participants were divided into the test and control groups. The test group received an epidural injection of steroid, while the control group was administered with an epidural local anesthetic and/or sham. Pain relief rate was evaluated using numerical rating scale and visual analogue scale scores, and the recovery of function was assessed using Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire and Oswestry Disability Index scores, which were then compared between the control and test group.

Epidural steroid injections provide effective short-term (up to 3 months) and medium-term (up to 6 months) pain relief for sciatica due to lumbar disc herniation but offer limited long-term pain relief and improvement in sciatic nerve function. Interestingly, a reduction in opioid usage was also seen in patients suffering from lumbar disc herniation.