Continuous spinal anesthesia with epidural catheters: An experience in the periphery

BACKGROUND AND AIM Continuous spinal anesthesia (CSA) offers considerable advantages over "singleshot" spinal or epidural anesthesia since it allows administration of well-controlled anesthesia using small doses of local anesthetics and a definite end point with less failure rate. There are described technical difficulties with introduction of spinal micro catheters and hence this study was undertaken by using epidural catheters. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sixty patients of ASA grade II to III were selected and they were administered continuous spinal anesthesia with Portex 18-G epidural catheters. RESULTS The introduction was done in first attempt and was easy in all cases. The intraoperative period was uneventful in all cases. Early postoperative analgesia was achieved in all cases. Only two patients (3%) had postdural puncture headache controlled with simple analgesics. In a 3 month postoperative followup, the incidence of neurological complication is nil. CONCLUSION We conclude CSA with epidural catheters is a simple and safe alternative for prolonged procedures with negligible failure rate especially in high-risk patients and in patients with possible difficulties in administration of general anesthesia.