Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow E-Letters: Submit a response to the article
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (24)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by McMENEMIN, I.M.
Right arrow Articles by BROWNRIDGE, P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by McMENEMIN, I.M.
Right arrow Articles by BROWNRIDGE, P.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

British Journal of Anaesthesia, 1992, Vol. 69, No. 4 417-419
© 1992 The Board of Management and Trustees of the British Journal of Anaesthesia

research-article

ACCIDENTAL SUBDURAL CATHETERIZATION: RADIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE OF A POSSIBLE MECHANISM FOR SPINAL CORD DAMAGE

I.M. McMENEMIN*,, G. R. J. SISSONS, M.B., CH.B., F.R.C.ANAES. and P. BROWNRIDGE, M.B., B.S., F.R.C.ANAES., F.F.A.R.A.C.S.

Department of Anaesthesia
Department of Radiology
Department of Obstetric Anaesthesia Flinders Medical Centre Bedford Park, South Australia 5042, Australia.

We describe the inadvertent subdural insertion of a lumbar extradural catheter in a primiparous woman in labour. A small quantity of local anaesthetic resulted in extensive motor and sensory block. Computed tomography performed after contrast injection demonstrated unequivocally that the catheter was in the subdural space. The catheter and injected fluid produced considerable displacement of the arachnoid within the thecal sac. We postulate that this could result in arterial compression or direct damage to the spinal nerve roots. Such a mechanism might explain some of the cases of permanent neurological damage associated with extradural analgesia.

*Present address, for correspondence: Department of Anaesthesia, Western Infirmary, Dunbarton Road, Glasgow G i l 6NT.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Br J AnaesthHome page
A. R. Aitkenhead
Injuries associated with anaesthesia. A global perspective
Br. J. Anaesth., July 1, 2005; 95(1): 95 - 109.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Anesth. Analg.Home page
D. J. Forrester, S. K. Mukherji, D. C. Mayer, and F. J. Spielman
Dilute Infusion for Labor, Obscure Subdural Catheter, and Life-Threatening Block at Cesarean Delivery
Anesth. Analg., November 1, 1999; 89(5): 1267 - 1267.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.