BACK PAIN FOLLOWING EPIDURAL ANAESTHESIA

MacArthur et al() in 1990 did a study of over 1000 women who suffered from back pain after childbirth (nearly 70% of whom had had it for over 1 year). They concluded that "The relation between backache and epidural anaesthesia is probably causal. It seems to result from a combination of effective analgesia and stressed posture during labour. Further investigations on the mechanisms causing backache after epidural anaesthesia are required."

Their 1992 paper() discussed 26 women who had numbness or tingling in the lower back, buttocks and leg, of whom 23 had had epidural anaesthesia. Again, they concluded that further study was needed. They went on to do studies in 1995 (short-term)() and 1997 (long-term)() but these failed to show significant increase in back pain amongst women who had had epidural anaesthesia.

Other studies have also failed to demonstrate a significant correlation between epidural anaesthesia and long-term back pain. Russell et al s study () showed 33% of participants suffering from back pain at 3 months post-partum, but only 7% of these had not previously suffered from back pain. There was further follow-up at one year, but these results are unclear. They concluded that "Among all demographic, obstetric, and epidural variables examined the only factors significantly associated with backache after childbirth were backache before and during pregnancy." In a previous study(), Russell had contended that "Though new long term backache is reported more commonly after epidural analgesia in labour, it tends to be postural and not severe. There were no differences in the nature of the backache between those who had or had not received epidural analgesia in labour."

Table of Contents

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