A retrospective study of the use of caudal and lumbar epidural injections for back pain and sciatica in a country hospital, 1997 to 1999

In the country Victorian district hospital under study, per capita admission rates for caudal and lumbar epidural injections containing local anaesthetic with or without steroid were seemingly well above expected levels. This prompted an audit of the use of these injections over a three year period, with a view to assessing (a) the number of injections that had been performed consistent with the 1994 NHMRC guidelines, (b) the effectiveness of the injections in reducing the patients' pain, and (c) the cost of this method of management. (non- author abstract)