Janna L Friedly, Bryan A Comstock, Judith A Turner, Patrick J Heagerty, Richard A Deyo, Sean D Sullivan, Zoya Bauer, Brian W Bresnahan, Andrew L Avins, Srdjan S Nedeljkovic, David R Nerenz, Christopher Standaert, Larry Kessler, Venu Akuthota, Thiru Annaswamy, Allen Chen, Felix Diehn, William Firtch, Frederic J Gerges, Christopher Gilligan, Harley Goldberg, David J Kennedy, Shlomo Mandel, Mark Tyburski, William Sanders, David Sibell, Matthew Smuck, Ajay Wasan, Lawrence Won, Jeffrey G Jarvik
BACKGROUND: Epidural glucocorticoid injections are widely used to treat symptoms of lumbar spinal stenosis, a common cause of pain and disability in older adults. However, rigorous data are lacking regarding the effectiveness and safety of these injections. METHODS: In a double-blind, multisite trial, we randomly assigned 400 patients who had lumbar central spinal stenosis and moderate-to-severe leg pain and disability to receive epidural injections of glucocorticoids plus lidocaine or lidocaine alone...
July 3, 2014: New England Journal of Medicine