The value of routine CSF analysis during lumbar radiculography for low back pain

The medical notes of 370 orthopaedic patients with low back pain, who underwent lumbar radiculography, were retrospectively reviewed to determine the effect, if any, that CSF analysis had on their subsequent management. It was found that no apparent alteration of management occurred in a single patient and hence the routine sampling of CSF during lumbar radiculography for uncomplicated low back pain has been discontinued in our department.