Needle Tip Position and Bevel Direction Have No Effect in the Fluoroscopic Epidural Spreading Pattern in Caudal Epidural Injections: A Randomized Trial
Table 5
The rates of bilateral and ventral epidural spread in groups U and D after injection of 4 mL of contrast medium or 14 mL of injectates.
Injection drug
Epidural spreading
Group U ()
Group D ()
value
4 mL of contrast medium
Bilateral spreading at L5/S1
55/83 (66.3%)
60/92 (65.2%)
0.232
Bilateral spreading at L4/5
16/25 (64.0%)
19/31 (61.3%)
0.835
Ventral spreading at L5/S1
44/83 (53.8%)
57/92 (62.0%)
0.232
Ventral spreading at L4/5
10/25 (40.0%)
14/31 (45.2%)
0.698
14 mL of injectates
Bilateral spreading at L5/S1
78/95 (82.1%)
92/104 (88.5%)
0.204
Bilateral spreading at L4/5
58/69 (84.1%)
66/79 (83.5%)
0.933
Ventral spreading at L5/S1
69/95 (72.6%)
80/104 (76.9%)
0.486
Ventral spreading at L4/5
41/69 (59.4%)
53/79 (67.1%)
0.334
Individuals from group U had the bevel of the needle headed to the dorsal side. Individuals from group D had the bevel of the needle headed to the ventral side. The data is expressed as “the number of cases with spreading/total number of cases” (percent of cases with spreading).
