Epidural analgesic techniques in the management of cervical pain.

The injection of depot steroids into the cervical epidural space can maximize the conservative management of patients with cervical radiculopathy. We retrospectively studied 25 patients with cervical radiculopathy who received a total of 45 epidural injections of steroids. Sixty-four percent of the patients had a good or excellent response to cervical epidural steroid injection, whereas other conservative treatment modalities had not helped them. The patient's history and a description of the pain and the corresponding neurological abnormalities present were of value in the selection of patients who were most likely to respond favorably to epidural steroids, whereas laboratory studies were not as useful. Anesthesiologists, many already familiar with the use of epidural steroid injection in the treatment of low back pain, should add to their armamentarium the use of such techniques in the management of patients with acute and chronic cervical radiculopathy.