Fact · Accessibility and health
-0.77standardised mean difference
The 2023 Cochrane review found that a wrist steroid injection probably improves symptoms at up to three months, with a standardised mean difference of -0.77 favouring the injection.
Checked against its source on October 16, 2026
In the source's own words
“There is probably an improvement in symptoms measured at up to three months of follow-up favouring LCI (standardised mean difference (SMD) −0.77, 95% confidence interval (CI) −0.94 to −0.59; 8 RCTs, 579 participants; moderate-certainty evidence).”
Local corticosteroid injection versus placebo for carpal tunnel syndrome, NL Ashworth et al., Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2023, Main results.
Open the original (DOI 10.1002/14651858.CD015148)- What it measures
- A standardised mean difference of about -0.8 is a large effect by conventional rules, but it is a statistical unit, not a percentage of symptom relief.
- What it does not show
- Moderate certainty. Patients were not compared with surgery in this review.