Epidural steroid injections significantly increase blood glucose levels in patients with diabetes, but the effect lasts less than two days, according to findings published in Spine.
Researchers enrolled patients with diabetes who were scheduled for an ESI. They collected the patient's most recent hemoglobin A1c levels and asked the participants to track their blood glucose numbers at least twice a day for two weeks before and after their ESIs. The average blood glucose level before the ESI was 160.18 and rose to 286.13 after the ESI. Researchers estimated the half-life of the increase to be 1.06 days, so patients' levels were back to normal in two days.
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