• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.163-166
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• 2009

The superiority of air versus saline for identifying the epidural space remains unestablished. Epidural anesthesia using a loss of resistance technique (LORT) with air is associated with increasing complications of dural puncture-induced headaches and neurological and hemodynamic changes. Here, we described a case of pneumocephalus with a large amount of air that was accompanied by severe headache and nuchal and chest pain occurring after epidural block using LORT with air for combined spinal-epidural anesthesia.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.84-88
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• 2000

Background: An increase in the maximum level of sensory blockade (MLSB) following an epidural top-up in combined spinal epidural anesthesia (CSE) may be achieved by a volume effect as the volume of local anesthetic compresses the dural sac, by a local anesthetic effect, or by a combination of both effects. This study was conducted to investigate the contribution of each of these effects. Methods: Sixty patients scheduled for lower limb surgery under CSE were randomly allocated to one of three groups of twenty patients each. Using the needle-through needle technique, all patients received a subarachnoid dose of 10 mg hyperbaric 0.5% bupivacaine. At 30 min after subarachnoid injection, an epidural top-up with saline 10 ml (group II) or 0.5% bupivacaine 10 ml (group III) was administered; patients in group I received no epidural top-up. The level of sensory blockade was assessed at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 min after subarachnoid injection and at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 min after epidural top-up. Results: There was no significant difference in the MLSB and the onset time of MLSB among group I-III. Conclusions: We concluded that the epidural top-up with saline 10 ml or 0.5% bupivacaine 10 ml which injected at 30 min after subarachnoid injection did not significantly increase the level of subarachnoid block in lower extremity surgical patients.