Management of chronic dorsal root pain with epidural steroid

Twenty-eight patients presenting with typical dorsal root pain of more than six months' duration were given a series of three epidural injections of methylprednisolone acetate. The patients were grouped according to known aetiologic factors. Improvement in symptoms was most marked in the post-herpetic group where 86% were free of pain after six months. In the post-trauma/surgical group, 50% of patients were free of pain after six months, while in the idiopathic group only minimal improvement occurred. The side-effects of steroid administration into the epidural space were in all cases minor.