123
Views
0
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Perspective

Key Safety Considerations when Administering Epidural Steroid Injections

&
Pages 261-272 | Published online: 10 Jun 2015
 

SUMMARY 

Neurological and other complications of epidural steroid injections have been widely discussed in recent years. Consequently, the US FDA issued a warning about serious neurological events, some resulting in death, and consequently is requiring label changes. Neurological adverse events numbering 131, including 41 cases of arachnoiditis, have been identified by the FDA, and 700 cases of fungal meningitis following injection of contaminated steroids. A review of the literature reveals an overwhelming proportion of the complications are related to transforaminal epidural injections, with the majority of them to cervical transforaminal epidural injections. This perspective describes the prevalence of administering epidural injections, complications, pathoanatomy, mechanism of injury and various preventive strategies.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.