Abstract
We here report the major permanent neurological complications that developed in three patients after epidural anesthesia. MR clearly showed that paraplegia, which arose one and nine days after anesthesia, was due to epi-subdural haematoma in the first case and epidural abscess in the second. The sudden left lower limb palsy in the third patient was caused by a paracentral ischemic lesion all along the conus-epiconus following a probable trauma of the cord during the insertion of the needle. Despite the fact that this was reported to have been performed at L1–L2, an erroneous introduction into the upper interspace must be postulated since the spinal cord of this patient terminated at mid-L1. Our report is useful insofar as it may remind anesthesiologists and neurologists to pay attention to the unusual complications of spinal anesthesia that may require urgent intervention.
Sommario
Vengono descritte gravi complicazioni neurologiche permanenti in tre pazienti sottoposti ad anestesia epidurale. Nei primi due la paraplegia, manifestatasi rispettivamente a distanza di uno e nove giorni dall'anestesia à stata causata da un ematoma episubdurale nel primo e da un ascesso epidurale nel secondo, brillantemente visualizzati dalla RM. Nel terzo caso la monoplegia dell'arto inferiore sinistro va attribuita ad una lesione ischemica paracentrale del cono-epicono conseguente ad un trauma midollare durante l'infissione dell'ago. Anche se à registrato che questa fu effettuata fra L1 e L2, tenuto conto che il midollo in questo paziente termina a livello del corpo di L1, è giocoforza postulare che l'introduzione sia avvenuta in uno spazio sovrastante. La segnalazione di questi casi è utile per richiamare all'attenzione degli anestesisti e dei neurologi possibili complicazioni dell'anestesia spinale, sulle quali è indispensabile intervenire rapidamente.
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Barontini, F., Conti, P., Marello, G. et al. Major neurological sequelae of lumbar epidural anesthesia. Ital J Neuro Sci 17, 333–339 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01999895
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01999895