Intraventricular Hemorrhage after Epidural Blood Patching: An Unusual Complication

The authors present two cases of intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) believed to be a result of epidural blood patching. The first was a 71-year-old woman who had new onset of nontraumatic IVH on computed tomography (CT) scan after undergoing an epidural blood patch (EBP). This amount of intraventricular blood was deemed an incidental finding since it was of very small volume to account for her overall symptoms. The second patient, a 29-year-old woman, was found to have nontraumatic IVH three days after undergoing an EBP. This was seen on CT scan of the head for workup of pressure-like headaches, nausea, vomiting, and absence seizures. Conservative management was followed in both instances. Serial CT scan of the head in our first patient displayed complete resolution of her IVH. The second patient did not have follow-up CT scans because her overall clinical picture had improved significantly. This highlights a potential sequel of EBP that may be observed on CT scan of the head. In the event that IVH is detected, signs and symptoms of hydrocephalus should be closely monitored with the consideration for a future workup if warranted by the clinical picture.