TUESDAY, Sept. 16 (HealthDay News) -- The use of epidural methylprednisolone immediately after lumbar discectomy may improve patients' recovery from the procedure, according to research published in the Sept. 1 issue of Spine.

Sten Rasmussen, M.D., of the Vejle and Give Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark, and colleagues assessed the outcomes of 200 patients who underwent discectomy for herniated disc who were randomized to receive either methylprednisolone acetate at the decompressed nerve root following the procedure or none. Both groups also received postoperative acetaminophen and celecoxib, along with oxycontin, oxynorm or morphine as needed.

The investigators found that fewer patients in the steroid group had neurologic impairment at two months after surgery compared to the control group. Steroid treatment was also associated with significantly shorter hospital stays and less leg pain, the researchers report. The treatment was not associated with any complications; no patients developed infections and the epidural steroid did not seem to raise the risk of reherniation, the report indicates.

"The findings in this study of reduced clinical signs of nerve adhesion using steroid may be related to inhibition of prostaglandin production, and a reduced interleukin and C reactive protein response. This reduction of the local inflammatory response may reduce local arachnoiditis, nerve adhesion and fibrosis, thereby explaining the long-term effect of epidural steroid," the authors write.

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