Most patients with sciatica get no worthwhile relief from epidural steroids

Research questionDo patients with unilateral sciatica get any lasting benefit from epidural injections of corticosteroids?

Answer No. Epidural injections of steroids with bupivacaine give a few weeks' pain relief to a small minority of patients. There are no benefits beyond six weeks

Why did the authors do the study? The evidence evaluating epidural corticosteroids for people with sciatica is inconclusive. Many of the studies to date are small and short term. Methods are heterogeneous and results are mixed. These authors wanted a more definitive and methodologically sound evaluation of this extremely common procedure.

What did they do? 228 English adults took part in …