Table 2.
Complications reported with interlaminar lumbar epidural corticosteroid injections
| Study, year | Design | Pts | Medications | Imaging | Complications |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carette et al., 1997 [36] | Prospective randomised blinded study | 78 pts, 162 injections | Methylprednisolone 80 mg | BL | 1 Dural puncture (0.6 %) 27 Transient headache |
| Kraemer et al., 1997 [51] | RCT | 87 pts, 87 injections | Triamcinolone 10 mg | CT | 1.9–3.6 % headache |
| Valat et al., 2003 [42] | RCT | 39 pts, 117 injections | Prednisolone acetate 50 mg | BL | 2 Headache |
| Arden et al., 2005 [44] | RCT | 115 pts, 3 injections each | Triamcinolone acetonide 80 mg | BL | 4 Non-specific headache 2 Postdural puncture headache, nausea 5 Other |
| Kim et al., 2010 [49] | Retrospective cohort study | 150 pts, 150 injections | Dexamethasone 16 mg | FL | 42 Facial flushing (28 %) |
| Kim et al., 2011 [50] | Prospective randomised study | 60 pts, 120 injections | Dexamethasone phosphate 15 mg or methylprednisolone acetate 80 mg | FL | 1 Intrathecal injection |
| Manchikanti et al., 2012 [34, 40] | Prospective randomised blinded study | 120 pts, 213 injections | Betamethasone 1 mL (n = 60) | FL | 3 Subarachnoid punctures (1.4 %) |
| Manchikanti et al., 2012 [34] | Prospective cohort study | 1450 Injections | NA | FL | 7 Intravascular placement of needle (0.5 %) 4 Transient nerve root irritation (0.28 %) 11 Dural punctures (0.8 %) 11 Profuse bleeding (0.8 %) 4 Local haematoma (0.28 %) 1 Headache (0.07 %) 2 Facial flushing (0.13 %) |
| Bartynski et al., 2013 [45] | Retrospective cohort study | 276 pts, 392 injection | Methylprednisolone acetate 80 mg | FL | 1 Dural puncture 1 Transient paraparesis |
| Candido el al. 2013 [35] | Prospective randomised blinded study | 106 pts, L3–S1 | Methylprednisolone acetate 120 mg | FL | 26 % discomfort and pain at the injection site 18 % non-positional headache 10 % nausea |
| Evansa et al., 2015 [47] | Prospective randomised study | 120 pts, 120 injections | Methylprednisolone acetate 80 mg | FL (n = 56), US (n = 56) | 15 Dizziness or pain at injection site or facial flushing 1 Intrathecal injection |
BL blind, CT computed tomography, FL fluoroscopy, NA not available, pts patients, RCT randomised controlled trial, US ultrasound