As an alternative, analgesics have been infused post-operatively via and epidural catheter placed at the end of surgery under direct vision. Cohen7 compared an epidural infusion of morphine and bupivacaine to PCA morphine in 54 patients and found no difference in outcome between groups. Other studies which have been uncontrolled or unblinded have demonstrated the efficacy of epidural narcotic administration (morphine, fentanyl and hydromorphone) following lumbar laminectomy surgery.8 9 10 11 12 Thus there is some evidence supporting the use of this form of analgesia, despite a report of an incidence of technical failure in surgically-positioned epidural catheters. 13