Epidural Steroid Injections, Conservative Treatment, or Combination Treatment for Cervical Radicular Pain

Abstract

For the primary outcome measure, no significant differences were found between treatments, although combination therapy provided better improvement than stand-alone treatment on some measures. Whereas these results suggest an interdisciplinary approach to neck pain may improve outcomes, confirmatory studies are needed.

A posterior approach to cervical nerve root block and pulsed radiofrequency treatment for cervical radicular pain: a retrospective study

“…Even the group that received a combination of conservative treatment and epidural injection did not reach a significant level of difference. The scores for arm pain only reduced 1.8, 2.0, and 3.1 points from pretreatment baseline at 1-month follow-up, and the scores for neck pain only reduced 1.1, 1.2, and 2.2 for the 3 groups, respectively [28]. In contrast, the approach used in this study achieved more than 4 points pain score reduction at 1 and 3 months after the procedure.…”

Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injections for Treating Lumbosacral Radicular Pain from Herniated Intervertebral Discs

“…study comparing a series of epidural steroid injections, medications and physical therapy, and combination therapy for cervical radiculopathy found that a multimodal treatment approach was more effective than stand-alone therapy. 61 Important "core" outcomes of anxiety and depression in addition to satisfaction with treatment also should be included as end points. The primary outcome should be measured at a range of intervals after the intervention.…”

Classification and Treatment of Chronic Neck Pain

“…A positive predefined successful outcome was considered to be a 2-point reduction in neck pain (or arm pain if worse than neck pain) coupled with a satisfaction score of 4 or greater. 25 …”