The Effects of Preoperative Epidural Steroid Injection on Pseudarthrosis Following Lumbar Fusion: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Study design: Retrospective cohort study.

Objective: The goal of this study is to evaluate the effects of preoperative lumbar epidural steroid injection on the rate of pseudarthrosis following lumbar spine fusion surgery.

Summary of background data: Epidural corticosteroids help to reduce nerve root edema and suppress proinflammatory cytokines in patients with radiculopathy. Corticosteroids may inhibit bone formation and reduce bone matrix synthesis rates. Thus, there is concern that corticosteroids may reduce lumbar fusion capability, potentially resulting in increased rates of symptomatic pseudarthrosis.

Materials and methods: We identified all patients who underwent 1-level or 2-level lumbar fusion surgery between 2018 and 2022. Patients were categorized into one of 3 groups: no preoperative epidural steroid injection (ESI) history (group 0), preoperative ESI within 90 days of surgery (group 1), or most recent ESI >90 days before surgery (group 2). The primary outcome of this study was pseudarthrosis. Binominal regression analyses were performed to determine the relationships between potential risk factors (sex, age, body mass index, smoking history, diabetes status, history of systemic steroid use, preoperative ESI, perioperative intravenous steroid administration, type of surgery, and postoperative ESI within 6 mo) and the development of postoperative pseudarthrosis.

Results: A total of 446 patients were included in this study. Of those, 106 patients (23.7%) did not have a preoperative ESI (group 0), 132 patients (29.5%) had an ESI within 90 days of surgery (group 1), and 208 patients (46.6%) had their most recent ESI >90 days before surgery (group 2). The overall incidence of pseudarthrosis following lumbar fusion was 8.7% (39 of 446). Although the incidence of pseudarthrosis following ESI at any time point was higher than in our control cohort (group 0), this difference was not statistically significant.

Conclusions: This study found no increased risk of postoperative pseudarthrosis in patients who underwent 1-level or 2-level lumbar fusions after preoperative ESI.

Level of evidence: Level III.