Can steroid injections ever cause a stroke?

Meningitis: You're probably aware of the recent national news of a contaminated lot of compounded steroid that caused fungal meningitis in a small percentage of recipients. The symptoms for some of those affected were stroke symptoms. Otherwise, the answer is: no. This was unprecedented.

Rare: If the vertebral artery is inadvertently punctured during cervical spine injection, a stroke could be the result.

Not as a rule: All procedures carry risk and should be thoughtfully employed. There have been issues with contaminated steroid products and procedural errors can occur. However, when performed by a specialist, the risks of steroid injections are acceptably small.

No: The steroids themselves do not cause stroke, but have unfortunately reviewed cases where injections were woefully misdirected and caused blood vessel and spinal cord damage with subsequent neurological issue. In the hands of an expert, used judiciously, these are very safe and effective. But not all docs are the same ethically, so, do your homework, and make sure you know who is the best.