The basis for recommending repeating epidural steroid injections for radicular low back pain: a literature review.

Objectives: To determine the current evidence to support guidelines for frequency and timing of epidural steroid injections (ESIs), to help determine what sort of response should occur to repeat an injection, and to outline specific research needs in these areas.

Data Sources: A PubMed, Medline (EBSCO), and Cochrane library search (January 1971-December 2005), as well as additional references found from the initial search.

Study Selection: There were no studies that specifically addressed the objectives outlined.

Trends in medical use and abuse of sustained-release opioid analgesics: a revisit.

Objective: Previous literature suggests that increases in the medical use of opioids over the early 1990s did not contribute to increased morbidity secondary to opioid abuse. Our objective was to evaluate the period 1997-2001 to analyze trends in medical use and medical abuse of three classes of opioid analgesics that are commonly used in sustained-release formulations: fentanyl, morphine, and oxycodone.

Design And Setting: A retrospective analysis of the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) database and the Automation of Reports and Consolidated Orders System (ARCOS) database for the years 1997-2001 was used for this study.