Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34219493›Full record

ArticleGlobal spine journal2023

Cervical Steroid Injections Are Not Effective for Prevention of Surgical Treatment of Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy.

Mustfa K Manzur, Andre M Samuel, Avani Vaishnav, Catherine Himo Gang, Evan D Sheha, Sheeraz A Qureshi

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Global spine journal, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 18% 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

4 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Conservative and newer drug treatment for degenerative cervical myelopathy.Journal of clinical orthopaedics and trauma · 2025
    Article
  2. Review
  3. Review
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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

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Mustfa K ManzurSidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Andre M SamuelHospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY, USA.
Avani VaishnavHospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1847-6915
Catherine Himo GangHospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY, USA.
Evan D ShehaHospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY, USA.
Sheeraz A QureshiHospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-7177-1756
Hospital for Special Surgery · USThomas Jefferson University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

STUDY

designRetrospective cohort study.

objectiveThe objective of this study is to determine how often patients with degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) and initially treated with cervical steroid injections (CSI) and to determine whether these injections provide any benefit in delaying ultimate surgical treatment.

methodsAll patients with a new diagnosis of DCM, without previous cervical spine surgery or steroid injections, were identified in PearlDiver, a large insurance database. Steroid injection and surgery timing was identified using Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes. Multivariate logistic regression identified associations with surgical treatment.

resultsA total of 686 patients with DCM were identified. Pre-surgical cervical spine steroid injections were utilized in 244 patients (35.6%). All patients underwent eventual surgical treatment. Median time from initial DCM diagnosis to surgery was 75.5 days (mean 351.6 days; standard deviation 544.9 days). Cervical steroid injections were associated with higher odds of surgery within 1 year (compared to patients without injections, OR = 1.44,

conclusionsWhile cervical steroid injections continue to be commonly performed in patients with DCM, there is an overall increased odds of surgery after any type of cervical injection. Therefore injections should not be used to prevent surgical management of DCM.

Indexed as

cervical spinedegenerative cervical myelopathydegenerative disc diseaseepidural injectioninsurance databasespinal cord compressionspinal fusionsteroid injectionstransforaminal injectionzygapophyseal injection

Identifiers

PMID34219493
PMCPMC10416602
OpenAlexW3180503063

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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.