ACP Journal Club. Review: epidural corticosteroids reduce short- but not long-term leg pain and disability in sciatica.

Review scope Included studies compared epidural corticosteroid injections with placebo (administration of an inert or innocuous substance into the epidural space or adjacent spinal tissue) in patients with sciatica. Studies had to report ≥ 1 of overall pain intensity, leg pain intensity, back pain intensity, or disability status. Corticosteroids could be delivered into the epidural space by any of the caudal, interlaminar, or transforaminal approaches. Studies that included patients with foraminal stenosis or lateral recess stenosis were included, as were studies with mixed populations if data for subgroups with sciatica could be identified. Studies of patients who previously had surgery or had sciatica due to spinal canal stenosis were excluded.