[Lumbar epidural anesthesia as an alternative to sacral epidural block]

After describing the various sacral epidural techniques and discussing the problems involved in performance of this type of analgesic block a series of 178 operations carried out in the sacral and coccygeal innervation areas by means of lumbar epidural anaesthesia is reported. After comparing the two techniques in the light of personal clinical experience, lumbar epidural anaesthesia is considered a valid alternative to sacral epidural anaesthesia because it is safer, simpler and has a smaller percentage of failures. Some technical measures to obtain analgesic diffusion towards the caudal areas are reported and radiological demonstration given of some of them.