Balakrishnamoorthy 2015.

Study characteristics
Methods	Clinical setting: emergency room Number randomized: 58 Number analyzed: 36 Attrition: 38% Funding source: none reported Country: Australia Publication language: English
Participants	Mean age: 39 years with corticosteroid vs 37 years with placebo Women: 59% with corticosteroid vs 45% with placebo Race: not reported Type of back pain: radicular (not due to spinal stenosis) Duration of symptoms: not reported Baseline pain (VAS, scale 0–10): 8.1 with corticosteroid vs 7.0 with placebo Baseline function (ODI, 0–100): 62 with corticosteroid vs 63 with placebo No imaging correlation required
Interventions	Dexamethasone 8 mg (50 mg prednisone equivalents) IV (29 participants) Placebo (29 participants) Duration of treatment: single dose Duration of follow‐up: 6 weeks
Outcomes	Pain: VAS (scale 0–10) Disability: ODI (scale 0–100) Disability (dichotomous): ability to resume normal activities Any adverse event Serious adverse events
Notes
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Low risk	Computer‐generated.
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Low risk	Opaque sealed envelopes.
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Placebo.
Blinding of care provider	Low risk	Placebo.
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Participant filled data sheets placed in locked box.
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	High risk	Attrition 38% (22/58) at 6 weeks.
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	Primary outcomes described and reported.
Baseline group similarity	Unclear risk	Groups not similar at baseline.
Co‐interventions avoided or similar	Low risk	No issues noted.
Acceptable compliance	Low risk	No issues noted.
Intention to treat	Low risk	Intention‐to‐treat analysis.
Timing of outcome assessment similar	Low risk	Timing of outcome assessment similar.