Pneumorrhachis and Pneumocephalus Following Epidural Analgesia: Case Report and Systematic Review by Yi Zhang, MD in Journal of Clinical Case Reports Medical Images and Health Sciences
Pneumorrhachis and Pneumocephalus Following Epidural Analgesia: Case Report and Systematic Review by Yi Zhang, MD in Journal of Clinical Case Reports Medical Images and Health Sciences We present a case of pneumorrhachis (PR) and pneumocephalus (PC) following labor epidural analgesia and conducted a systematic review of published studies on PR or PC after epidural anesthesia. A 36-year-old female, gravida 4, para 1 (one uncomplicated term pregnancy and two abortions), received epidural anesthesia for pain control during labor at 40 weeks of gestation with an uncomplicated vaginal delivery. About 12 hours after the epidural, the patient experienced muscle and upper back pain that progressed to a positional headache. Imaging revealed an air collection within the intraspinal and intracranial space. The patient underwent a series of conservative management and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Our systematic review of 20 case reports from 1982 to 2023 included 24 patients who developed PR o...