Diabetes Patients' Leg Pain Effective Injection Treatment of Spinal Injection
Aug 19, 2025
A research team led by Kim Young-joon and Lee Jun-woo of the Department of Radiology at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital said that diabetics who complain of leg pain can reduce pain through spinal injections just like non-diabetics. However, if the pain is chronic or the intensity is low, the treatment effect is low, and a close diagnosis by a specialist is required.
Diabetes is a disease in which insulin secretion or function is abnormal and blood sugar is abnormally high, and it is known to cause fatal complications in whole-body organs such as myocardial infarction, stroke, glaucoma, renal failure, and nerve damage.
The complications caused by diabetes are threatening in themselves, but it is also problematic that they cause confusion with other diseases with similar symptoms. Lower extremity (leg) pain is typical. Both spinal diseases such as diabetic peripheral neuropathy and lumbar disc and spinal stenosis cause leg pain, and it is difficult to pinpoint the cause of these. Considering the interaction between the two diseases, such as diabetes promoting degenerative changes in the spine, the diagnosis becomes more complex.
Accordingly, diabetics need to be cautious in undergoing the 'spinal injection' procedure, which is commonly performed for leg pain caused by spinal disease. This procedure, also known as epidural steroid injection, is because if you have diabetic peripheral neuropathy, the treatment effect decreases, and steroids, which are mainly used in the procedure, temporarily increase the patient's blood sugar. Although rare, there are reports that diabetes increases the risk of spinal infection, raising safety concerns.
The problem is that this perception spreads to the misunderstanding that it is difficult and dangerous for diabetics to see the effects of spinal injections, and there are patients who hesitate to treat and develop spinal diseases due to vague concerns. As the number of patients exposed to these blind spots is increasing rapidly in recent years due to the rapid increase in the population of diabetes and spinal diseases, there is a growing need to re-examine the perception of spinal injection treatment in patients with lower extremity pain diabetes and establish clear clinical standards.
Accordingly, the research team conducted a study to analyze whether the spinal injection procedure is actually significantly less effective in diabetic patients and under what conditions if it is reduced. The study was conducted by comparing the degree of pain reduction and the incidence of side effects in diabetic and non-diabetic patients with 218 patients who received spinal injections for lower limb pain at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital.
According to the results of the study, there was no statistically significant difference in the reduction rate of leg pain after spinal injection treatment between diabetic and non-diabetic patients, and the incidence of side effects was similar. It suggests that spinal injection can be an effective treatment for leg pain in diabetic patients with spinal disease.
However, treatment effectiveness was not guaranteed in all diabetic patients. For patients with chronic pain (more than 6 months) or mild pain intensity, the effectiveness of spinal injection procedures has been reduced even if spinal lesions are clearly present on MRI, and in this case, it is necessary to suspect pain caused by diabetic neuropathy rather than spinal lesions, so careful judgment from specialists is essential.
The results of this study are expected to contribute to establishing treatment guidelines and expanding early treatment by presenting clear clinical standards for safer application of spinal injections, which have been passively performed for lower limb pain in diabetics.
Professor Kim Young-joon said, `There are many diabetic patients who miss the time to treat spinal diseases due to concerns about elevated blood sugar or infection.'"According to the results of the study, if diabetics also closely observe pain patterns, spinal injection procedures can be considered as an important treatment option.'
Professor Lee Jun-woo "Not all diabetics can receive spinal injection treatment for leg pain, so a careful approach is needed.""After accurately determining the cause of diabetes complications or spinal diseases in consideration of the duration and intensity of pain, we should decide whether to inject or treat them."
Meanwhile, the results of the study were published in the renowned international journal 『Skeletal Radiology』.
Diabetes is a disease in which insulin secretion or function is abnormal and blood sugar is abnormally high, and it is known to cause fatal complications in whole-body organs such as myocardial infarction, stroke, glaucoma, renal failure, and nerve damage.
The complications caused by diabetes are threatening in themselves, but it is also problematic that they cause confusion with other diseases with similar symptoms. Lower extremity (leg) pain is typical. Both spinal diseases such as diabetic peripheral neuropathy and lumbar disc and spinal stenosis cause leg pain, and it is difficult to pinpoint the cause of these. Considering the interaction between the two diseases, such as diabetes promoting degenerative changes in the spine, the diagnosis becomes more complex.
Accordingly, diabetics need to be cautious in undergoing the 'spinal injection' procedure, which is commonly performed for leg pain caused by spinal disease. This procedure, also known as epidural steroid injection, is because if you have diabetic peripheral neuropathy, the treatment effect decreases, and steroids, which are mainly used in the procedure, temporarily increase the patient's blood sugar. Although rare, there are reports that diabetes increases the risk of spinal infection, raising safety concerns.
The problem is that this perception spreads to the misunderstanding that it is difficult and dangerous for diabetics to see the effects of spinal injections, and there are patients who hesitate to treat and develop spinal diseases due to vague concerns. As the number of patients exposed to these blind spots is increasing rapidly in recent years due to the rapid increase in the population of diabetes and spinal diseases, there is a growing need to re-examine the perception of spinal injection treatment in patients with lower extremity pain diabetes and establish clear clinical standards.
Accordingly, the research team conducted a study to analyze whether the spinal injection procedure is actually significantly less effective in diabetic patients and under what conditions if it is reduced. The study was conducted by comparing the degree of pain reduction and the incidence of side effects in diabetic and non-diabetic patients with 218 patients who received spinal injections for lower limb pain at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital.
According to the results of the study, there was no statistically significant difference in the reduction rate of leg pain after spinal injection treatment between diabetic and non-diabetic patients, and the incidence of side effects was similar. It suggests that spinal injection can be an effective treatment for leg pain in diabetic patients with spinal disease.
However, treatment effectiveness was not guaranteed in all diabetic patients. For patients with chronic pain (more than 6 months) or mild pain intensity, the effectiveness of spinal injection procedures has been reduced even if spinal lesions are clearly present on MRI, and in this case, it is necessary to suspect pain caused by diabetic neuropathy rather than spinal lesions, so careful judgment from specialists is essential.
The results of this study are expected to contribute to establishing treatment guidelines and expanding early treatment by presenting clear clinical standards for safer application of spinal injections, which have been passively performed for lower limb pain in diabetics.
Professor Kim Young-joon said, `There are many diabetic patients who miss the time to treat spinal diseases due to concerns about elevated blood sugar or infection.'"According to the results of the study, if diabetics also closely observe pain patterns, spinal injection procedures can be considered as an important treatment option.'
Professor Lee Jun-woo "Not all diabetics can receive spinal injection treatment for leg pain, so a careful approach is needed.""After accurately determining the cause of diabetes complications or spinal diseases in consideration of the duration and intensity of pain, we should decide whether to inject or treat them."
Meanwhile, the results of the study were published in the renowned international journal 『Skeletal Radiology』.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
