OBJECTIVE A substantial reduction in lung volumes and pulmonary function follows cardiac surgery. Pain may prevent effective breathing and coughing, and as thoracic epidural analgesia may reduce postoperative pain, we investigated the effect of epidural analgesia on pulmonary function. METHODS Fifty-four male patients, under 65 years and with an ejection fraction of more than 0.5, were random...

BACKGROUND Transforaminal epidural steroid injection is one of the effective treatments in managing radicular pain. There have been some prospective studies on the depth to the epidural space with the transforaminal approach. However, there have been no studies about the depth in Asians, especially Koreans. This study was carried out in order to evaluate the depth to the epidural space and the ...

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...

Background Context. Products that can reduce development of epidural fibrosis may reduce risk for ongoing pain associated with development of scar tissue and make subsequent epidural reexploration easier. Purpose. To evaluate the use of dehydrated human amnion/chorion membrane (dHACM) on the formation of soft tissue scarring in the epidural space. Study Design. Case series. Patient Sample. Five...

PURPOSE Pain in terminal cancer patients may be refractory to systemic analgesics or associated with adverse drug reactions to analgesics. Epidural analgesia has been effectively used in such patients for pain control. However, this method does not provide pain relief to all patients. The efficacy and complications of continuous epidural analgesia were evaluated for expanding efficacy in termin...

BACKGROUND Accidental cannulation of an epidural vein is a common complication associated with epidural anesthesia or analgesia. On the basis of a pilot study and previous reports, we tested the hypothesis that predistention of the epidural space with saline before epidural catheterization would ease catheter insertion and decrease the incidence of this complication. METHODS Two-hundred-three...

To the Editor: Recently, I was asked to co-author a review of the scientific evidence for, or against, the use of epidural steroid injections to treat pain. Although there have been many studies published over the years showing efficacy for interlaminar epidural injections, none met the criteria for our report because most were not randomized and none evaluated injections using fluoroscopy. On ...

BACKGROUND Epidural alpha2-adrenergic agonists produce analgesic effects in children and adults, but efficacy and safety have not been established in neonates and infants. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of epidural dexmedetomidine on sensory processing, reversal of inflammatory hyperalgesia, and sedation during early development in rats. METHODS In rat pups aged 3, 10, and ...

BACKGROUND Epidural anesthesia is widely used to provide pain relief, whether for surgical anesthesia, postoperative analgesia, treatment of chronic pain, or to facilitate painless childbirth. In many cases, however, the epidural catheter is inserted blindly and the indwelling catheter position is almost always uncertain. METHODS In this study, the loss-of-resistance technique was used and an...

non of the intervertebral disc space, a gas-containing cyst in the epidural space is a rare disease entity. Intervertebral gas can migrate to the epidural space through ruptures in the annulus fibrosus, and it manifests as squeezed air in the herniated disc, as contained air in the pseudocyst that is without a larger amount of disc material, or as free air. There have been several reports about...