Waveform analysis for lumbar epidural needle placement in labour

Epidural abscess after multiple lumbar punctures for labour epidural catheter placement

Epidural catheterization is routinely used by anaesthesiologists to provide labour and post-operative analgesia. In most cases, catheter placement is without serious side effects and uneventful. However, epidural abscess is a rare complication that may result in severe morbidity. We present a case of epidural abscess after labour epidural catheter placement in a healthy 36-year-old female who p...

Ultrasound guidance in caudal epidural needle placement.

BACKGROUND This study was conducted to investigate the feasibility of using ultrasound as an image tool to locate the sacral hiatus accurately for caudal epidural injections. METHODS Between August 2002 and July 2003, 70 patients (39 male and 31 female patients) with low back pain and sciatica were studied. Soft tissue ultrasonography was performed to locate the sacral hiatus. A 21-gauge caud...

Continuous lumbar epidural analgesia for labour and delivery.

Disadvantages of ultrasound guidance in caudal epidural needle placement.

To the Editor:—I read with interest the article “Ultrasound Guidance in Caudal Epidural Needle Placement” by Chen et al. However, I have a couple of points to raise. The author’s assertion that the application of ultrasonography to locate the sacral hiatus for caudal epidural injections has not been described is inaccurate. The footprint property of the transducer is not mentioned in the articl...

An Alternative Approach to Needle Placement in Cervicothoracic Epidural Injections

The use of fluoroscopy guidance together with the loss of resistance technique during epidural injections has been advocated lately; moreover, epidural injections in the absence of fluoroscopic guidance have a high rate of inaccurate needle-tip placement during the injections. However, the approach to the lower cervical and upper thoracic epidural space may be challenging due to its obscure lat...