This systematic review tries to answer the question whether anaesthesiologic pain relief is an effective treatment for patients with chronic benign low back pain. We therefore collected all randomized controlled trials on this subject (n=25), and after excluding the ones not meeting the inclusion criteria, we assessed the remainder on their methodological quality (n=18). This systematic review shows that the quality of most of the studies was suboptimal. However, there appeared to be no relation between the methodological quality and the outcome of the studies. The studies were divided into the following categories: facet joint injection, epidural injection and local injection. The studies on facet joint injection did not show that anaesthesiologic pain relief was superior compared to placebo injections. Anaesthetics injected in the epidural space, or at triggerpoints or at ligaments, consistently gave more pain relief than placebo injections at these locations. However, comparisons of different anaesthesiologic agents did not show that one agent was superior to the other.