Podcast 714: Intradermal Sterile Water for Back Pain

<p><strong>Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD</strong></p> <p><strong>Educational Pearls:</strong></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Randomized controlled-trial evaluated intradermal injections of sterile water to manage low back pain versus an IV NSAID</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Four intradermal injections of 0.1 cc sterile water in a square around the area of musculoskeletal pain</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Reduction of pain was 7 points with the procedure and 2 points with the IV NSAID at 24 hours</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">12% in the injection group versus 50% in the IV NSAID group needed opioids</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">87% patient satisfaction in the injection group versus 16% patient satisfaction in the IV NSAID group</span></li> </ul> <p><strong>References</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tekin E, Gur A, Bayraktar M, Ozlu I, Celik BK. The effectiveness of intradermal sterile water injection for low back pain in the emergency department: A prospective, randomized controlled study. Am J Emerg Med. 2021;42:103-109. doi:10.1016/j.ajem.2021.01.038</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Summarized by John Spartz, MS4 | Edited by Erik Verzemnieks, MD</span></em></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Emergency Medical Minute is excited to announce that we are now offering</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">AMA PRA Category 1 credits™</span></em> <span style="font-weight: 400;">via online course modules. To access these and for more information, visit our website at</span> <a href= "https://emergencymedicalminute.org/cme-courses/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">https://emergencymedicalminute.org/cme-courses/</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">and create an accou