Review of domiciliary consultations for pain relief

Three hundred consecutive requests for a domiciliary visit for pain relief were reviewed to assess the type of case referred by general practitioners and what treatment was instituted. Two hundred and thirty one (77%) were requested for lumbago/sciatica. In total 179 caudal epidurals and 49 other injections were performed in the patient's home. The safety of the procedures are discussed emphasising careful history taking, physical examination and meticulous attention to injection techniques as 12 patients (7%) were wrongly diagnosed as suffering from lumbago and sciatica from the 231 referred with that diagnosis.