The Patient Injury Claims Department in Sweden grants compensation to patients who have incurred injury in the national health service system. All claims involving spinal and epidural anaesthesia were studied during the period 1997-1999. Serious neurological complications were behind 29 out of 65 claims. These occurred more frequently after epidural anaesthesia (1:4,000) than after spinal anaesthesia (1:13,000) with the exclusion of obstetric epidural anaesthesia (1:40,000). Epidural haematoma occurred in 1:30,000 after epidural anaesthesia, in 1:200,000 after spinal anaesthesia. One epidural abscess occurred in 60,000 epidural anaesthesias, while five cases of meningitis occurred after spinal anaesthesia (1:40,000).