A PROSPECTIVE-STUDY OF DIAGNOSTIC EPIDURAL BLOCKADE IN THE ASSESSMENTOF CHRONIC BACK AND LEG PAIN

A consecutive series of 1 00 patients with back and leg pain were eval uated prospectively. All had a detailed clinical assessment together w ith radiculography and computed tomography (CT) of the lumbosacral spi ne. In addition, each patient underwent diagnostic epidural blockade t hat identified three kinds of response. Injection of local anaesthetic into the epidural space relieved the symptomatic pain-the positive re sult (51 patients). Local anaesthetic injection had no effect on the s ymptomatic pain-the negative result (30 patients). In 19 patients, sal ine injection into the epidural space relieved the symptomatic pain-th e placebo result. The results of this investigation were assessed in t he light of the number of inappropriate physical signs found on clinic al examination, together with the result of the radiculogram and CT sc an. No statistical correlation was found with any of these parameters.