Inhospital management of common lumbosciatic syndrome. An opinion survey among French rheumatologists.

To determine which treatments are most commonly offered to patients younger than 70 years of age admitted for uncomplicated lumbosciatica suggestive of disk herniation, we sent a 43-item questionnaire to 106 rheumatology departments in France. The questionnaire collected information on hospital stay duration, modalities of rest, drug treatments, local glucocorticoid injections, physical treatments, sick leave duration and advice given to the patients. The response rate was 77% (84 questionnaires). Substantial variations were found across departments. Hospital stay duration ranged from five to 20 days and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug treatment duration from five to 30 days. Local glucocorticoid therapy was given as one to four injections at intervals of two to seven days. Spinal traction was used in 38% and a corset in 50% of study centers. Neither was there any consensus regarding immediate or delayed physiotherapy. Most respondents recommended bedrest for no longer than 15 days, a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug, a level I or II analgesic, local glucocorticoid injections and, in the event of persistent pain at the end of the hospital stay, a lumbar corset.