Complications of 761 Short-term Intrathecal Macrocatheters in Obstetric Patients: A Retrospective Review of Cases Over a 12-Year Period

Abstract

(Int J Obstet Anesth. 2016;25:30–36) Continuous spinal anesthesia may have some advantages over epidural catheter and single-shot spinal techniques in obstetrics, particularly in certain groups of high-risk parturients. However, use of intrathecal catheters (ITCs) seems underutilized on many obstetric units, with anesthesiologists citing the fear of infection, nerve damage or postdural puncture headache (PDPH). At the authors’ institution, which is a tertiary care hospital, ITCs are placed intentionally in specific high-risk obstetric patients, including those with morbid obesity, severe cardiopulmonary disease or spinal abnormalities. They also used ITCs following accidental dural puncture (ADP) with a 17-G epidural needle. This study reviewed retrospectively the complications experienced by 761 parturients who received an ITC for labor analgesia and/or anesthesia for cesarean delivery (CD) during the time period of 2001 to 2012 period.