Broken needle during spinal anesthesia: an avoidable complication.

We report a case of a broken spinal needle occurring in a morbid obese pregnant woman during SA indicated for an emergent cesarean section. Multiple puncture attempts due to difficult identification of lumbar spine, associated with an inadequate use of the introducer, contributed to this complication. The recognition of predictive factors for difficult neuraxial anesthesia, the use of ultrasound in obese patients, and a properly executed technique may have allowed avoiding this complication. PMID: 30538540 [PubMed]
Source: Local and Regional Anesthesia - Category: Anesthesiology Tags: Local Reg Anesth Source Type: research