HCR Update from Mark Sanna: Injecting steroids into the area around the spinal cord, known as an epidural, is the most commonly used treatment for back pain, but a new review of studies suggests that injecting any liquid, even plain saline solution, works just as well. Researchers pooled the results of 43 studies involving more than 3,600 patients who got various kinds of injections for back pain. The study, published online in Anesthesiology, found that there was little difference between the amount of relief provided by steroidal and nonsteroidal epidural injections.