J Korean Pain Soc.  1996 Jun;9(1):130-134.

Distance from Skin to Lumbar Epidural Space in Obstetric Parturients

• Yoon JS
• Cho SK
• Joung BK
• Bak YO
• Kim YS
• Ha JS

Abstract

BACKGROUND: This study was designed to determine the distance from skin to lumbar epidural space in obstetric parturients and whether weight, height, or PI (ponderal index, kg/m2) might influence the epidural depth.
METHODS
7l obstetric patients undergoing elective cesarean section during epidural anesthesia in L2-3 level were partitioned into groups according to their prepregnant BMI (body mass index), and in each group weight, height, PI, epidural depth were measured.
RESULTS
All patients were classified as underweight (n=l8), normal (n=49), overweight (n= 4) and no one was partitioned into obese group. The distance from skin to lumbar epidural space was found to be 3.7 cm (underweight), 4.l cm (normal), 4.7 cm (over weight) and total mean distance was found to be 4.0 cm. The epidural depth had correlations with weight and height in underweight, and weight and PI in normal, but had no correlation with any measurements in overweight group.
CONCLUSION
These results suggest body weight may be a useful parameter for predicting the distance from skin to lumbar epidural space in underweight and normal weight obstetric parturients.

Keyword

Epidural depth; Surgery; obstetric; cesarean section

MeSH Terms

Anesthesia, Epidural
Body Weight
Cesarean Section
Epidural Space*
Female
Humans
Overweight
Pregnancy
Skin*
Thinness