Table 3.

Multiple-treatment meta-analysis of repeated versus single corticosteroid injection for pain reduction

	Single corticosteroid versus placebo injection					Repeated corticosteroid versus placebo injections
Time	Number of studies	Hedges’s g (CI)	p Value	NNT	Between treatment comparison	Number of studies	Hedges’s g (CI)	p Value	NNT (CI)
Less than 4 weeks	6	0.44 (0.15−0.73)	0.018	NA	p = 0.992	3	0.44 (0.23−0.60)	< 0.001	NA
4 to less than 8 weeks	8	0.51 (0.20−0.83)	0.001	5 (3.1−13.1)	p = 0.918	4	0.54 (0.12−0.96)	0.011	4.7 (2.7 −22)
8–12 weeks.	6	0.28 (−0.12 to 0.68)	0.170	NA	p = 0.683	3	0.14 (−0.40 to 0.69)	0.625	NA

NNT = number needed to treat; NA = not applicable owing to either minimal control group event rate (less than 0.1%) or nonsignificant results.