Epidural steroid injection in the treatment of lumbar and cervical pain syndromes. A preliminary retrospective comparison

Twenty-four patients suffering from chronic low back pain and 17 patients who had chronic cervical pain syndrome were treated with epidural steroid injections in the lumbar or cervical spine respectively. Each of these two groups was divided into three subgroups: (1) patients with neurological deficit and/or radiological signs of radiculopathy and pressure on the dura mater; (2) patients with no neurological or radiological signs of root or dura mater compression; (3) patients with spinal stenosis. All patients were treated with one, two or three epidural injections of steroids. We compared pain relief, improvement of the range of motion, decrease of the daily dosage of analgesics, and recovery of capacity for work. There were no statistically significant differences between the various groups or subgroups. We concluded that epidural steroid injection is an effective conservative method of treatment for chronic pain syndrome in the lumbar and cervical spine with the exception of patients with spinal stenosis.