ArticleGlobal spine journal2026
Timing Matters: Preoperative Lumbar Epidural Steroid Injection and Long-Term Outcomes Following Single-Level Posterior Lumbar Fusion.
Article in Global spine journal, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Study DesignRetrospective Cohort Analysis.ObjectiveCESIs are a mainstay of nonoperative treatment for degenerative lumbar spine disease. As increasing numbers of patients undergo sPLF after receiving CESIs, understanding their impact on surgical outcomes is essential. The objective of the present investigation was to evaluate the association between preoperative corticosteroid epidural spinal injections (CESI) and postoperative outcomes following single-level posterior lumbar fusion (sPLF).MethodsA retrospective cohort study was performed using the TriNetX database. Patients undergoing sPLF were stratified by preoperative CESI exposure within 3 months of surgery. After 1:1 propensity score matching, 3,804 patients remained in each cohort. Outcomes included surgical site infection (SSI), pseudoarthrosis, and reoperation. Risk ratios (RR), 95% confidence intervals (CI), and Kaplan-Meier analyses were performed.ResultsPreoperative CESI was not associated with an increased risk of 90-day SSI (1.06% vs. 1.01%; RR 1.05, 95% CI 0.68-1.64; p=0.82). However, pseudoarthrosis occurred more frequently in the CESI cohort at 1 year (9.58% vs. 6.54%; RR 1.47; p<0.001), 3 years (11.20% vs. 7.55%; RR 1.48; p<0.001), and 5 years (11.81% vs. 8.10%; RR 1.46; p<0.001). Reoperation rates were not significantly different at 5 years (7.81% vs. 7.25%; RR 1.08; p=0.36). Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated earlier and sustained pseudoarthrosis following preoperative CESI. The number needed to harm was 33.ConclusionsPreoperative CESI within 3 months of sPLF was associated with increased long-term pseudoarthrosis, without increasing postoperative SSI and reoperation rates.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.