title: Somatic paravertebral nerve blockade. Incidence of failed block and complications.
abstract: The failure rate and complications following thoracic and lumbar paravertebral blocks performed in 620 adults and 42 children were recorded. The technique failure rate in adults was 6.1%. No failures occurred in children. The complications recorded were: inadvertent vascular puncture (6.8%); hypotension (4.0%); haematoma (2.4%); pain at site of skin puncture (1.3%); signs of epidural or intrathecal spread (1.0%); pleural puncture (0.8%); pneumothorax (0.5%). No complications were noted in the children. The use of a bilateral paravertebral technique was found approximately to double the likelihood of inadvertent vascular puncture (9% vs. 5%) and to cause an eight-fold increase in pleural puncture and pneumothorax (3% vs. 0.4%), when compared with unilateral blocks. The incidence of other complications was similar between bilateral and unilateral blocks.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Makassed General Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Naja
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Lönnqvist
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005119:Extravasation of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Materials / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006406:Hematoma / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007022:Hypotension / Q000209:etiology; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009407:Nerve Block / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology; D010994:Pleura / Q000293:injuries; D011030:Pneumothorax / Q000209:etiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013127:Spinal Nerves / Q000293:injuries; D017211:Treatment Failure