Neurological adverse events following regional anesthesia administration

Christopher D Kent, Laurent Bollag
Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA

Abstract: Regional anesthesia and analgesia have been associated with improved analgesia, decreased postoperative nausea and vomiting, and increased patient satisfaction for many types of surgical procedures. In obstetric anesthesia care, it has also been associated with improved maternal mortality and major morbidity. The majority of neurological adverse events following regional anesthesia administration result in temporary sensory symptoms; long-term or permanent disabling motor and sensory problems are very rare. Infection and hemorrhagic complications, particularly with neuraxial blocks, can cause neurological adverse events. More commonly, however, there are no associated secondary factors and some combination of needle trauma, intraneural injection, and/or local anesthetic toxicity may be associated, but their individual contributions to any event are difficult to define.
Keywords: postanesthetic neural deficits, transient neurologic symptoms, epidural abscess, neuraxial hematoma