Haemoptysis after Pulmonary Artery Catheterization

Sir,—The use of distraction and compression rods in the treatment of scoliosis was originally described by Harrington (1962). One of the complications of this operation is paraplegia, with a reported frequency of 0.1% (Harrington, 1971). To prevent this complication, patients are wakened during operation to check the voluntary motor power of the limbs. A variety of wake-up techniques has been described (Vauzelle, Stagnara and Jouvinroux, 1973; Crawford et al., 1976; Sudhir et al., 1976). The success of extradural bupivacaine in reducing blood loss during intervertebral disc operations, and the associated sensory blockade prompted us to incorporate extradural analgesia into the wake-up technique during Harrington Rod procedures.