J Korean Pain Soc.  1997 Nov;10(2):281-284.

Ultrasonogram - guided Confirmation of Sheared Epidural Catheter and its Surgical Removal

• Kim SN
• Park CJ
• Kwon OK
• Shim JY
• Moon DE
• Lee JM
• Kim YG

Abstract

Continuous epidural blockade is a widely accepted, useful technique for providing anesthesia and analgesia. But there have been several anecdotal reports of complications such as: abnormal position, knotting, shearing of the catheter, etc. We experienced a case of shearing of the end of an epidural catheter which was difficult to remove from epidural space of a 39-year-old patient. Ultrasonogram proved to be very effective to confirm the presence and position of the retained catheter. We surgically removed the retained catheter as it could potentially lead to infection of the epidural space. We advocate ultrasorgram as an effective procedure to confirm and locate retained epidural ca- theter.

Keyword

Anesthetic techniques, epidural; Complications, epidural catheter shearing

MeSH Terms

Adult
Anesthesia and Analgesia
Catheters*
Epidural Space
Humans
Ultrasonography*