Immediate management of inadvertent dural puncture during insertion of a labour epidural: a survey of Australian obstetric anaesthetists.

May 5, 2008 Anesthesiology
A d v e r t i s e m e n t s
Related Articles

Immediate management of inadvertent dural puncture during insertion of a labour epidural: a survey of Australian obstetric anaesthetists.

Anaesth Intensive Care. 2008 Jan;36(1):96-101

Authors: Newman MJ, Cyna AM

Immediate management of inadvertent dural puncture during insertion of an epidural needle during labour is controversial and evidence to guide clinical practice is limited. We surveyed Australian obstetric anaesthetists by anonymous postal questionnaire. Of the 671 surveys sent, 417 (62%) were returned. Following dural puncture, 265 respondents (64%) indicated that they “would usually remove the Tuohy needle and resite”. The most common reason for this decision was concern regarding the safety of intrathecal catheters (ITC) (n = 236, 89%), in particular, the risk of misuse (n = 182, 70%). The most frequently reported reason for “usually inserting an ITC” was that this reduced the incidence (n = 120, 84%) and severity (n = 110, 77%) of post dural puncture headache. Increased frequency of ITC insertion was reported by respondents who practised more frequent sessions of obstetric anaesthesia, had fewer years of experience as a consultant anaesthetist and worked in a public hospital. The more widespread use of ITCs seems to be limited by safety concerns.

PMID: 18326140 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Related Journals:

  1. The use of epidural analgesia in a New Zealand tertiary hospital before and after publication of the MASTER study.
  2. A survey of the bacteriological quality of preroasted peanut, almond, cashew, hazelnut, and brazil nut kernels received into three Australian nut-processing facilities over a period of 3 years.
  3. Hotly debated topics in obstetric anesthesiology 2008: a theory of relativity.
  4. A survey of the use of unapproved medicines in anaesthesia practice in New Zealand.
  5. Ultrasound imaging in cadavers: training in imaging for regional blockade at the trunk.

May 5, 2008 | Filed Under Anesthesiology 

Comments

Leave a Reply