On The Cover:
Cervical radicular pain is a major cause of disability and few studies have examined the role for epidural steroids in treatment. In this issue of Anesthesiology, Cohen and his colleagues present a multicenter, randomized, comparative-effectiveness study of epidural steroid injections, conservative treatment, or combination treatment for cervical radicular pain. They demonstrate that conservative, epidural steroid, and combination treatment all produce similar reductions in arm pain. In an accompanying editorial, Rathmell discusses this and other recent trials that have clarified the proper role for epidural steroids in our pain treatment armamentarium. (Cover illustration: J. Rathmell; G. Nelson; A. Johnson, Vivo Visuals. Adapted with permission from Rathmell JP: Atlas of Image-guided Intervention, second edition. Philadelphia, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2012.)
Rathmell: The Proper Role for Epidural Injection of Corticosteroids, p. 919
Cohen et al.: Epidural Steroid Injections, Conservative Treatment, or Combination Treatment for Cervical Radicular Pain: A Multicenter, Randomized, Comparative-effectiveness Study, p. 1045
