Cauda equina syndrome: a consequence of lumbar disk protrusion or continuous subarachnoid analgesia?

pidural analgesia administered during labor is characterized by a high degree of safety (1). E After accidental dural puncture, an epidural catheter can be used to provide subarachnoid analgesia (2,3). However, Rigler et al. (4) described four cases of cauda equina syndrome (CES) that might have been associated with continuous spinal anesthesia. We present a case of CES in a patient with lumbar disk disease discovered postpartum in whom subarachnoid migration of an epidural catheter had occurred during the first stage of labor.

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