There are no reports regarding pneumomediastinum caused by thoracic epidural block complications. We believe that it is possible to experience an occurrence of pneumomediastinum caused by air in the epidural space after performing a thoracic epidural block using the loss of resistance (LOR) technique with air. We report a witnessed case where pneumomediastinum appeared after a thoracic epidural...

INTRODUCTION In this study we aimed to develop a simple and practical technique for chronic sacral epidural catheterization of rabbits. METHODS We included ten rabbits weighing 2-2.5 kg in the study. After anesthesia and analgesia, we placed an epidural catheter by a 2 cm longitudinal skin incision in the tail above the sacral hiatus region. We confirmed localization by giving 1% lidocaine (l...

Regional analgesia has become the most common method of pain relief used during labor in the United States. Epidural and spinal analgesia are two types of regional analgesia. With epidural analgesia, an indwelling catheter is directed into the epidural space, and the patient receives a continuous infusion or multiple injections of local anesthetic. Spinal injections are usually single injection...

BACKGROUND Neck flexion has been shown to increase cranial spread of contrast agent when a small fixed volume was injected into the high thoracic epidural space. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of volume of contrast medium on its distribution through the high thoracic epidural space during neck extension and flexion using the rabbit model. METHODS An epidural catheter was...

We read the article by Zhu et al (1) regarding an alternative approach for lumbar transforaminal epidural steroid injections. We found that their work was similar to our previously reported article, “Fluoroscopically guided transforaminal epidural dry needling for lumbar spinal stenosis using a specially designed needle” (2). In our article, we introduced a minimally invasive interventional tec...

We have examined the extradural space using a flexible extraduroscope in 74 patients undergoing extradural anaesthesia at the L2-3 interspace. Extraduroscopy showed that the extradural space becomes widely patent and the fatty tissue in the extradural space diminishes with increasing age. We postulate that these age-related structural changes may affect the spread of local anaesthetic in the ex...

The case histories are reported of one patient who developed evidence of extradural infection 16 days postpartum, and another who spontaneously developed an extradural haematoma. Several points of interest and concern raised by these case histories are discussed.

Review scope Included studies compared epidural corticosteroid injections with placebo (administration of an inert or innocuous substance into the epidural space or adjacent spinal tissue) in patients with sciatica. Studies had to report ≥ 1 of overall pain intensity, leg pain intensity, back pain intensity, or disability status. Corticosteroids could be delivered into the epidural space by any...

Editor’s key points † Several factors that influence intracranial pressure (ICP) also influence intraocular pressure (IOP). † Injections into the epidural space can cause cerebrospinal fluid shifts into the cranial space. † This has the potential to increase ICP and IOP. † The authors studied the effect of cervical epidural injections (14 ml) on IOP. Background. Cervical epidural injection (CEI...

Radiographs of the position of the epidural catheter were taken in each of 90 patients in whom this form of analgesia was employed for surgery. Radiopaque dye was injected through the catheter. In 33 patients the average length of catheter threaded into the epidural space was 20 cm; the desired cephalad direction was followed in 16. When the average length of catheter inserted was 12.5 cm the t...