Fact · Accessibility and health
65percent
In one trial of 111 people, 65% of those given a steroid injection had mild to moderate pain lasting under two weeks, against 16% of those given a placebo injection.
Checked against its source on October 16, 2026
In the source's own words
“One study (111 participants) reported no serious adverse events, but 65% of LCI-injected and 16% of the placebo-injected participants experienced mild-to-moderate pain lasting less than two weeks.”
Local corticosteroid injection versus placebo for carpal tunnel syndrome, NL Ashworth et al., Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2023, Abstract, adverse events.
Open the original (DOI 10.1002/14651858.CD015148)- What it measures
- The 2023 Cochrane review compared local corticosteroid injection (LCI) with placebo injection in people with mild to moderate carpal tunnel syndrome. Only one trial of the nine with usable data reported this breakdown.
- What it does not show
- A single trial. Reporting of adverse events was inconsistent across the review: four studies reported none and three did not report them specifically. The review found serious adverse events to be rare where they were reported.