Korean J Pain.  2009 Aug;22(2):163-166. 10.3344/kjp.2009.22.2.163.

Pneumocephalus Developed during Epidural Anesthesia for Combined Spinal-Epidural Anesthesia

• Kim YJ
• Baik HJ
• Kim JH
• Jun JH

• KMID: 1770510
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3344/kjp.2009.22.2.163

Abstract

The superiority of air versus saline for identifying the epidural space remains unestablished. Epidural anesthesia using a loss of resistance technique (LORT) with air is associated with increasing complications of dural puncture-induced headaches and neurological and hemodynamic changes. Here, we described a case of pneumocephalus with a large amount of air that was accompanied by severe headache and nuchal and chest pain occurring after epidural block using LORT with air for combined spinal-epidural anesthesia.

Keyword

air; combined spinal-epidural anesthesia; headache; loss of resistance technique; pneumocephalus

MeSH Terms

Anesthesia
Anesthesia, Epidural
Chest Pain
Epidural Space
Headache
Hemodynamics
Pneumocephalus