Learning From the Law. A Review of 21 Years of Litigation of Nerve Injury Following Central Neuraxial Blockage in Obstetrics

Abstract

(Anaesthesia. 2020;75:541–548) Medicolegal claims from neurological injury following central neuraxial blockade (CNB) are the second most common claims against obstetric anesthesiologists. Data is presented on 55 cases from a personal claims database maintained by one of the authors of the cases in which he served as an expert witness between 1994 and 2015. The lessons learned from having served as an expert witness, fall into 3 broad themes: Consent, Nerve Injury, and Recognition and Management of Nerve Injury.