Radiculopathy from herniation of the nucleus pulposus: 2. The role of corticosteroids

Abstract

The role of corticosteroids in the treatment of radiculopathy from a disc herniation is to provide temporary improvement of the disabling symptoms while the condition resolves. In addition, corticosteroids provide neuroprotective effects on the involved nerve roots. Early studies of corticosteroids for radiculopathy contained multiple methodological flaws and failed to demonstrate consistent results. Since each of these studies used inaccurate and less effective injection techniques, their results do not apply to current practice. More recent studies with better designs and more precise injection techniques have shown epidural corticosteroid injections to be an effective treatment for radiculopathy from herniated nucleus pulposus. The literature on systemic corticosteroids remains limited.