Ref (type)	Population	Outcome, Interventions	Results and statistical analysis	Effect size	Favours
Pain
[16] Systematic review	49 people with radiologically confirmed disc herniation Data from 1 RCT	Proportion of people with symptom relief 3 months 54% with triamcinolone interlaminar perineural injection 40% with placebo (saline) interlaminar perineural injection plus intramuscular triamcinolone Absolute numbers not reported	Significance not assessed Randomisation method not reported
[16] Systematic review	160 people with lower-limb pain caused by confirmed disc herniation Data from 1 RCT	Proportion of people with symptom relief 12 months 65% with corticosteroid injections 65% with saline placebo injection Absolute numbers not reported	Reported as not significant P value not reported		Not significant
[17] Systematic review	23 people with nerve root compromise Data from 1 RCT	Proportion of people with improvement in back and leg pain (unspecified) 4 weeks with caudal corticosteroid injection of 25 mL triamcinolone acetonide 80 mg with or without 0.5% procaine hydrochloride with placebo (25 mL saline injection) Absolute results not reported	Reported as significant in favour of corticosteroid injection No further data reported
[17] Systematic review	23 people with nerve root compromise Data from 1 RCT	Proportion of people with improvement in back and leg pain (unspecified) 12 months with caudal corticosteroid injection of 25 mL triamcinolone acetonide 80 mg with or without 0.5% procaine hydrochloride with placebo (25 mL saline injection) Absolute results not reported	Reported as no significant difference between groups at 12 months No further data reported		Not significant
[19] Systematic review	228 people with unilateral sciatica, possibly caused by disc herniation Data from 1 RCT	Proportion of people with improvement in leg pain (unspecified) measured by visual analogue scale (VAS) 3 weeks with triamcinolone 80 mg plus 10 mL bupivacaine 0.25% with 2 mL normal saline Absolute results not reported	Reported as no significant difference between groups No further data reported by review		Not significant
[19] Systematic review	228 people with unilateral sciatica, possibly caused by disc herniation Data from 1 RCT	Proportion of people with improvement in leg pain (unspecified) measured by Likert scale 3 weeks 61% with triamcinolone 80 mg plus 10 mL bupivacaine 0.25% 40% with 2 mL normal saline Absolute numbers not reported	P <0.01	Effect size not calculated	triamcinolone 80 mg plus 10 mL bupivacaine 0.25%
[19] Systematic review	228 people with unilateral sciatica, possibly caused by disc herniation Data from 1 RCT	Proportion of people with improvement in leg pain (unspecified) measured by VAS 6 weeks with triamcinolone 80 mg plus 10 mL bupivacaine 0.25% with 2 mL normal saline Absolute results not reported	Reported as no significant difference between groups No further data reported by review		Not significant
[19] Systematic review	228 people with unilateral sciatica, possibly caused by disc herniation Data from 1 RCT	Proportion of people with improvement in leg pain (unspecified) measured by Likert scale 6 weeks with triamcinolone 80 mg plus 10 mL bupivacaine 0.25% with 2 mL normal saline Absolute results not reported	Reported as no significant difference between groups No further data reported by review		Not significant
[19] Systematic review	158 people with sciatica caused by herniated nucleus pulposus Data from 1 RCT	Improvement in leg pain (unspecified) 6 weeks with methylprednisolone acetate (80 mg and 8 mL of isotonic saline) with 1 mL isotonic saline Absolute results not reported	P = 0.03	Effect size not calculated	methylprednisolone acetate (80 mg and 8 mL of isotonic saline)
[19] Systematic review	158 people with sciatica caused by herniated nucleus pulposus Data from 1 RCT	Improvement in leg pain (unspecified) 3 months with methylprednisolone acetate (80 mg and 8 mL of isotonic saline) with 1 mL isotonic saline Absolute results not reported	Reported as no significant differences between groups No further data reported		Not significant
[19] Systematic review	51 people with lumbar root compression documented by neurological deficit and abnormality noted on myelography Data from 1 RCT	Pain (unspecified) 3 months with 80 mg methylprednisolone (2 mL) with 2 mL normal saline Absolute results not reported	Reported as no significant differences between groups No further data reported		Not significant
[19] Systematic review	151 people with lumbar root compression documented by neurological deficit and abnormality noted on myelography Data from 1 RCT	Pain (unspecified) 14 months with 80 mg methylprednisolone (2 mL) with 2 mL normal saline Absolute results not reported	Reported as no significant difference between groups No further data reported		Not significant
[20] RCT	85 people with sciatica caused by herniated disc	Mean change in pain scores from baseline measured by unspecified VAS 35 days –30.3 mm with epidural corticosteroid injections (2 mL prednisolone acetate at 2-day intervals for a total of 3 injections) –25.2 mm with placebo (2 mL isotonic saline injection)	Mean difference –5.1 95% CI –18.7 to +8.4		Not significant
[21] RCT	76 people with leg and back pain caused by herniated disc	Improvement in leg pain measured by VAS score 3 months mean change of 27.4 with methylprednisolone 40 mg plus local anaesthetic mean change of 24.3 with local anaesthetic alone	Significance not assessed
[21] RCT	124 people with leg and back pain caused by herniated disc (76 people) or spinal stenosis (48 people)	Improvement in back pain measured by VAS score 3 months mean change of 6.9 with methylprednisolone 40 mg plus local anaesthetic mean change of 9.9 with local anaesthetic alone	P = 0.57		Not significant