Prevention of postdural puncture headache after accidental dural puncture in cesarean sections: a comparative study

Abstract

Background Accidental dural puncture (ADP) is one of the most common complications of neuraxial anesthesia in labor with high incidence of postdural puncture headache (PDPH). Aim Primary outcome: to compare the effectiveness of intramuscular neostigmine, intrathecal catheterization (ITC), epidural blood patch (EBP) on the prevention of PDPH. Secondary outcome: to assess the severity of PDPH and possible complications. Patients and methods One hundred and twenty patients exposed to ADP, fulfilling the inclusion criteria were divided into four equal groups. Control group: received conservative treatment when developed PDPH with a visual analog scale (VAS) of more than 4, group N: received intramuscular neostigmine 20 µg/kg and atropine 0.01 mg/kg after ADP, group ITC: ITC at the same site of ADP and left for 48 h and group EBP: received EBP at a level of ADP. VAS was assessed at 6, 12, 24, 36, and 24 h. Pain severity was divided into no pain (VAS 7). Number of patients who required rescue ketorolac analgesia and average diclofenac (mg) consumption during the first 48 h and possible complications were recorded. Results VAS score and pain severity were significantly higher in the control group than other groups, in group N and group ITC than EBP and in group N than group ITC at all examination times. The number of patients who required diclofenac analgesia was significantly higher in the control group than other groups. Average diclofenac consumption during the first 48 h was significantly higher in the control group than other groups, in both group ITC and group N than EBP and in group N than group ITC. Urinary bladder spasm, hypotension, and bradycardia were significantly higher in group N than other groups, and muscle twitching and abdominal cramps were significantly higher in group N than both control and EBP groups. Conclusion EBP was superior to ITC and neostigmine in reducing the incidence of PDPH and pain severity with less complications.