Is the over-all success rate of spinal epidural corticosteroid injections good?
Dr. Kamhi: As stated earlier, an accurate diagnosis is most important. In my clinical experience, epidural corticosteroid injections are very effective to help relieve pain and paresthesias in patients with spinal radiculopathies caused by disc herniation. I should add that patients often require more than one epidural corticosteroid injection to obtain definitive and long-lasting relief. Many of my patients are highly satisfied with the results following a short series of epidural corticosteroid injections. On the other hand, leg pain felt on exertion (neurogenic claudication) because of spinal stenosis is difficult to treat using epidural corticosteroid injections. The effects often do not produce long-lasting symptom relief. In my practice, patients with nerve compression because of bony spinal stenosis do respond favorably to epidural corticosteroid injections. Sometimes this type of spinal stenosis is treated surgically (laminectomy, foraminotomy). However, some patients with bony
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