Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26005584›Full record

ArticleSurgical neurology international2015

Comparison of the efficacy of saline, local anesthetics, and steroids in epidural and facet joint injections for the management of spinal pain: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials.

Laxmaiah Manchikanti, Devi E Nampiaparampil, Kavita N Manchikanti, Frank J E Falco, Vijay Singh, Ramsin M Benyamin, Alan D Kaye, Nalini Sehgal, Amol Soin, Thomas T Simopoulos and 4 more

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Surgical neurology international, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
35citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
18.9field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

35 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 129 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Epidural steroid compared to placebo injection in sciatica: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2021
    Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Trial
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Ultrasound-guided axial facet joint interventions for chronic spinal pain: A narrative review.Canadian journal of pain = Revue canadienne de la douleur · 2023
    Review
  15. Article
  16. Epidural Steroid Injections for Low Back Pain: A Narrative Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021
    Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors at 11 institutions in 1 country.

Laxmaiah ManchikantiMedical Director of the Pain Management Center of Paducah, 2831 Lone Oak Road, Paducah, KY, 42003, and Clinical Professor, Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA.
Devi E NampiaparampilRehabilitation Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
Kavita N ManchikantiFourth Year Resident in Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA.
Frank J E FalcoMedical Director of Mid Atlantic Spine and Pain Physicians, Newark, DE, Pain Medicine Fellowship Program, Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, Department of PM and R, Temple University Medical School, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Vijay SinghMedical Director, Spine Pain Diagnostics Associates, Niagara, WI, USA.
Ramsin M BenyaminMedical Director, Millennium Pain Center, Bloomington, IL, and Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery, College of Medicine, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA.
Alan D KayeDepartment of Anesthesia, LSU Health Science Center, New Orleans, LA, USA.
Nalini SehgalInterventional Pain Program, Professor and Director Pain Fellowship, Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA.
Amol SoinOhio Pain Clinic, Centerville, OH, USA.
Thomas T SimopoulosDepartment of Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA., USA.
Sanjay BakshiPresident of Manhattan Spine and Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, NYU Langone-Hospital for Joint Diseases, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
Christopher G GhariboMedical Director of Pain Medicine and Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Orthopedics, Department of Anesthesiology, NYU Langone-Hospital for Joint Diseases, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
Christopher J GilliganDepartment of Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, and Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at Harvard Medical School, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Joshua A HirschVice Chief of Interventional Care, Chief of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery, Service Line Chief of Interventional Radiology, Director of Endovascular Neurosurgery and Neuroendovascular Program, Massachusetts General Hospital; and Associate Professor, Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Harvard University · USBeth Israel Deaconess Medical Center · USLouisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans · USManhattan Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation · USNew York University · USNew York University Langone Orthopedic Hospital · USPain Management Center of Paducah · USTemple University Hospital · USUniversity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign · USUniversity of Kentucky · USUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe efficacy of epidural and facet joint injections has been assessed utilizing multiple solutions including saline, local anesthetic, steroids, and others. The responses to these various solutions have been variable and have not been systematically assessed with long-term follow-ups.

methodsRandomized trials utilizing a true active control design were included. The primary outcome measure was pain relief and the secondary outcome measure was functional improvement. The quality of each individual article was assessed by Cochrane review criteria, as well as the criteria developed by the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP) for assessing interventional techniques. An evidence analysis was conducted based on the qualitative level of evidence (Level I to IV).

resultsA total of 31 trials met the inclusion criteria. There was Level I evidence that local anesthetic with steroids was effective in managing chronic spinal pain based on multiple high-quality randomized controlled trials. The evidence also showed that local anesthetic with steroids and local anesthetic alone were equally effective except in disc herniation, where the superiority of local anesthetic with steroids was demonstrated over local anesthetic alone.

conclusionThis systematic review showed equal efficacy for local anesthetic with steroids and local anesthetic alone in multiple spinal conditions except for disc herniation where the superiority of local anesthetic with steroids was seen over local anesthetic alone.

Indexed as

Chronic painepidural injectionsfacet joint injectionslocal anestheticsalinespinal painsteroids

Identifiers

PMID26005584
PMCPMC4431057
OpenAlexW2403614958

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-SA
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.