Initial bolus of conventional versus high‐dose dexamethasone in metastatic spinal cord compression

Abstract
We randomly assigned dexamethasone in an initial bolus of 10 mg IV or 100 IV followed by 16 mg daily orally to 37 patients with metastatic spinal cord compression. The average pain score before the start of treatment was 5.2 (SD = 2.8) and decreased significantly (p < 0.001) to 3.8 at 3 hrs, 2.8 at 24 hrs, and 1.4 after 1 week. There were no differences between the conventional and high-dose group of pain, ambulation, or bladder function.