Efficacy of epidural steroid injections for low-back pain and sciatica: A systematic review of randomized clinical trials.

Assessed the efficacy of epidural steroid injections for low-back pain. 12 randomized clinical trials evaluating epidural steroid injections were identified. Data were extracted based on scores for quality of the methods, using 4 categories (study population, interventions, effect measurement, and data presentation and analysis) and the conclusion of the author(s) with regard to the efficacy of epidural steroid injections. Of the 4 best studies, 2 reported positive outcomes and 2 reported negative results. Overall, 6 studies indicated that the epidural steroid injection was more effective than the reference treatment and 6 reported it to be no better or worse than the reference treatment. The benefits of epidural steroid injections, if any, seem to be of short duration only. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)