INTRODUCTION The risk of postdural puncture headache following lumbar puncture can be reduced by choosing a blunt spinal needle or by using a smaller needle diameter. Reports indicate that lumbar puncture practiced outside of the anaesthetic discipline does not adhere to the current level of evidence. To examine the practice among haematologists in Denmark, we performed a national survey. In ad...

We describe a case with a 50-yr-old, healthy woman who developed neurological symptoms associated with left foot drop following Combined Spinal Epidural Anesthesia (CSEA) for right total knee arthroplasty. She complained of paresthesia and pain during insertion of the 27-G, atraumatic spinal needle which was believed to be introduced at the L2-3 interspace after the 18-G epidural needle. Howeve...

BACKGROUND Many surgeries are performed under spinal anesthesia. Inexperienced practitioners may find it difficult to obtain subarachnoid access. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to examine the relationship between patients' anthropometric characteristics and depth of spinal needle insertion to the subarachnoid cavity. PATIENTS AND METHODS 385 patients with ASA class I - II, aged 18 - 65 years a...

BACKGROUND/AIMS To describe the use of intraoperative online optical coherence tomography (iOCT) for improving deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) surgery. METHODS Retrospective case series of 6 eyes of 6 male patients with keratokonus, corneal dystrophy or herpetic stromal scars undergoing DALK were investigated using intraoperative optical coherence tomography and postsurgical image/...

BACKGROUND Numerous studies have shown significant benefits of using real-time ultrasonography for central line intravenous access. Traditionally, the ultrasound probe is placed along the short axis of the vein to visualize and direct needle placement. This view has some limitations, particularly being able to visualize the needle tip. Some practitioners place the ultrasound probe in the long a...

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...

Thoracic Epidurals: Anatomic Explanation Central neuraxial block has a low incidence of major complications, many of which resolve within 6 months. During attempts to insert a spinal needle into the lumbar subarachnoid space, patients occasionally experience paresthesia, with a reported incidence of 13.6%. Neurologic complications, including spinal cord injury, may arise during administration o...