OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to compare the sharp and blunt needles in order to determine the incidence of complications during transforaminal anterior epidural steroid injections. METHODS In this retrospective study, 185 cases that undergo transforaminal epidural steroid injection with sharp or blunt needles were evaluated between June 2004 and December 2008. Patients age, sex, diagn...

A 98-year-old woman presented for a hemiarthroplasty of the left hip. Because of her age and cardiac and pulmonary co-existing diseases we decided to provide adequate regional anesthesia by continuous spinal anesthesia. Fragmented doses of isobaric bupivacaine 0.5% were administered through a system consisting of a spinal catheter connected to an antimicrobial filter. After an uneventful surgic...

Background: Post-dural puncture headache (PDPH) is commonly seen after neuraxial block and it usually lasts for up to two days or in some cases for up to two weeks. Several types of regimens have been suggested for treatment, such as theophylline and caffeine. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of aminophylline, paracetamol, and administration of aminophylline and paracetamol concurrently...

PURPOSE To report a rare complication related to epidural analgesia for obstetrics: the association of unilateral trigeminal and facial nerve palsies in a patient with the clinical syndrome of intracranial hypotension. CLINICAL FEATURES A 38-yr-old woman was admitted in pre-term labour (at 35 wk gestation). She was receiving 40 mg methadone po daily for opioid addiction. Epidural analgesia fo...

The syndrome of spontaneous intracranial hypotension is characterised by postural headache, low CSF pressure, and MRI findings of diVuse pachymeningeal gadolinium enhancement without a history of head or back trauma or lumbar puncture. We report on the MRI findings of a patient with spontaneous intracranial hypotension, before and after treatment. A 44 year old woman presented with severe subac...

There have been reports of abnormalities in the lumbosacral region involving a lower-than-normal termination of the dural sac, which is caused by disease or anatomical variation. Inadvertent dural puncture or other unexpected complications can occur during caudal epidural block or adhesiolysis in patients with these variations, but only a small number of case reports have described this issue. ...