SHORT-TERM COMPLICATIONS: ()

Post dural puncture headache (commonest)

Total spinal anaesthesia

Meningitis (infective or chemical)

Extradural haematoma

Extradural abscess

Anterior spinal artery syndrome (paraplegia)

Intravascular injection

Cauda equina syndrome(CES)

Transient radicular irritation(TRI)

Cranial nerve lesions/Horner s syndrome (v. rare)

Hampl et al() suggested that transient neurologic symptoms are "common after spinal anesthesia" and may occur in up to "one third of the patients receiving 5% lidocaine."

Dahlgren () wrote about Transient Radicular Irritation(TRI) having an incidence of 15-37% in those patients receiving lidocaine, procaine and mepivicaine (but not bupivicaine). He ascribes the symptoms to hemolyzed blood in the subarachnoid space.

Table of Contents

Introduction
TOXICITY OF LOCAL ANAESTHETICS
PREVIOUS SPINAL PROBLEMS
DURAL PUNCTURE
NEUROLOGICAL COMPLICATIONS OF EPIDURAL ANAESTHESIA
SHORT-TERM COMPLICATIONS
NEXT: BACK PAIN FOLLOWING EPIDURAL ANAESTHESIA
LONG-TERM NEUROLOGICAL COMPLICATIONS
ARACHNOIDITIS CASES
CONCLUSIONS
References