Techniques in transfemoral lumbar epidural phlebography.

For lumbar epidural phlebography an even distribution of the injected contrast medium over the epidural and intervertebral venous system is of the greatest importance in order to prevent the false positive diagnosis of a lumbar disk lesion due to an artificial filling defect. Various catheter placement techniques and other procedures designed to enhance epidural opacification are compared in this respect. In the author's opinion, selective injection of the contrast medium into an intervertebral vein, when possible, leads to the most reliable epidural filling.