Diagnostic and therapeutic spinal interventions
Epidural injections
Citation Manager Formats
Make Comment
See Comments

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.
Summary
Epidural injections of local anesthetic or a corticosteroid are frequently given to diagnose and treat patients with radicular pain originating from any spinal level. The best-quality evidence supports a transforaminal approach in the lumbar spine. Many patients experience substantial benefit from a single therapeutic injection. Depending upon the benefit obtained, additional injections may be administered. Selective nerve blocks with local anesthetic alone can identify the spinal nerve mediating the patient's pain. Serious short-term risks are rare but occur; long-term risks are infrequent and can be due to systemic effects of multiple corticosteroid injections. Patients who have failed conservative therapy or are not candidates for surgical intervention can be considered for epidural steroid injections to relieve their radicular pain temporarily.
Footnotes
Funding information and disclosures are provided at the end of the article. Full disclosure form information provided by the authors is available with the full text of this article at Neurology.org/cp.
- © 2014 American Academy of Neurology
AAN Members
We have changed the login procedure to improve access between AAN.com and the Neurology journals. If you are experiencing issues, please log out of AAN.com and clear history and cookies. (For instructions by browser, please click the instruction pages below). After clearing, choose preferred Journal and select login for AAN Members. You will be redirected to a login page where you can log in with your AAN ID number and password. When you are returned to the Journal, your name should appear at the top right of the page.
AAN Non-Member Subscribers
Purchase access
For assistance, please contact:
AAN Members (800) 879-1960 or (612) 928-6000 (International)
Non-AAN Member subscribers (800) 638-3030 or (301) 223-2300 option 3, select 1 (international)
Sign Up
Information on how to subscribe to Neurology and Neurology: Clinical Practice can be found here
Purchase
Individual access to articles is available through the Add to Cart option on the article page. Access for 1 day (from the computer you are currently using) is US$ 39.00. Pay-per-view content is for the use of the payee only, and content may not be further distributed by print or electronic means. The payee may view, download, and/or print the article for his/her personal, scholarly, research, and educational use. Distributing copies (electronic or otherwise) of the article is not allowed.
The Nerve!: Rapid online correspondence
REQUIREMENTS
You must ensure that your Disclosures have been updated within the previous six months. Please go to our Submission Site to add or update your Disclosure information.
Your co-authors must send a completed Publishing Agreement Form to Neurology Staff (not necessary for the lead/corresponding author as the form below will suffice) before you upload your comment.
If you are responding to a comment that was written about an article you originally authored:
You (and co-authors) do not need to fill out forms or check disclosures as author forms are still valid
and apply to letter.
Submission specifications:
- Submissions must be < 200 words with < 5 references. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- Submissions should not have more than 5 authors. (Exception: original author replies can include all original authors of the article)
- Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.
You May Also be Interested in
Dr. Nicole Sur and Dr. Mausaminben Hathidara
► Watch
Alert Me
Recommended articles
-
Special Article
Assessment: Use of epidural steroid injections to treat radicular lumbosacral painReport of the Therapeutics and Technology Assessment Subcommittee of the American Academy of NeurologyCarmel Armon, Charles E. Argoff, Jeffrey Samuels et al.Neurology, March 05, 2007 -
Drugs and Devices
Diagnostic and therapeutic spinal interventionsFacet joint interventionsJ.D. Bartleson, Timothy P. Maus et al.Neurology: Clinical Practice, June 18, 2014 -
Clinical/Scientific Notes
Multiple intracerebral hemorrhages after cervical epidural injectionsJoshua Mendelson, Srikanth Muppidi, Stephen Silberstein et al.Neurology, June 09, 2008 -
Editorial
Spinal painWhen is it time for an intervention?Gary M. Franklin, John Markman et al.Neurology: Clinical Practice, June 18, 2014