A randomized trial of epidural glucocorticoid injections for spinal stenosis

N Engl J Med. 2014 Jul 3;371(1):11-21. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1313265.

Abstract

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. The patients received one or two injections before the primary outcome evaluation, performed 6 weeks after randomization and the first injection. The primary outcomes were the score on the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ, in which scores range from 0 to 24, with higher scores indicating greater physical disability) and the rating of the intensity of leg pain (on a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 indicating no pain and 10 indicating "pain as bad as you can imagine").

Results: At 6 weeks, there were no significant between-group differences in the RMDQ score (adjusted difference in the average treatment effect between the glucocorticoid-lidocaine group and the lidocaine-alone group, -1.0 points; 95% confidence interval [CI], -2.1 to 0.1; P=0.07) or the intensity of leg pain (adjusted difference in the average treatment effect, -0.2 points; 95% CI, -0.8 to 0.4; P=0.48). A prespecified secondary subgroup analysis with stratification according to type of injection (interlaminar vs. transforaminal) likewise showed no significant differences at 6 weeks.

Conclusions: In the treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis, epidural injection of glucocorticoids plus lidocaine offered minimal or no short-term benefit as compared with epidural injection of lidocaine alone. (Funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01238536.).

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Multicenter Study
  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Anesthetics, Local / adverse effects
  • Anesthetics, Local / therapeutic use*
  • Double-Blind Method
  • Drug Therapy, Combination
  • Female
  • Glucocorticoids / adverse effects
  • Glucocorticoids / therapeutic use*
  • Humans
  • Hydrocortisone / blood
  • Injections, Epidural
  • Lidocaine / adverse effects
  • Lidocaine / therapeutic use*
  • Lumbar Vertebrae
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Pain / drug therapy
  • Pain / etiology
  • Pain Measurement
  • Spinal Stenosis / complications
  • Spinal Stenosis / drug therapy*
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Anesthetics, Local
  • Glucocorticoids
  • Lidocaine
  • Hydrocortisone

Associated data

  • ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT01238536