Paraplegia, a severe complication to epidural analgesia

Abstract

We report four cases where continuous epidural analgesia resulted in epidural abscesses (EA) causing spinal cord damage and paraplegia. The first symptom of EA was intense back pain, which developed 0-20 days after removal of the epidural catheter. The diagnosis of EA was not made prior to the development of severe neurologic disturbances in any of the patients. In all cases there was a time lag of 2-4 days between the first symptoms and institution of the appropriate treatment.

Original languageEnglish
JournalActa Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica
Volume43
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)233-5
Number of pages3
ISSN0001-5172
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 1999

Keywords

  • Accidental Falls
  • Accidents, Traffic
  • Adult
  • Analgesia, Epidural/adverse effects
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Intestinal Perforation/complications
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Paraplegia/etiology
  • Postoperative Complications/etiology
  • Spinal Cord Injuries/etiology

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