title: Sequestrated caudal catheter in a child: An anesthetic nightmare and surgical dilemma.
abstract: The usage of epidural infusion for intraoperative and postoperative pain relief is widely used in certain pediatric anesthetic practice because of the effectiveness and advantages. However, there is drawback for these techniques due to its potential complications such as inadvertent intrathecal placement, local anesthetic toxicity, catheter migration, infection, and breakage of epidural catheter. Though occur infrequently, epidural catheters have been known to snap during insertion or removal. The retained catheter tip may lead to multiple complications, including nerve injury, infection, and even catheter migration. Although there are literatures recommend options for management of removal of retained catheter, there are limited reports of these occurrences, especially among children. We report a case of sequestrated sheared epidural catheter segment in a child, aiming to share this experience for the future management of patients under similar condition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16150 Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia; Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Advanced Medical and Dental Institute, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Bertam, 13200 Kepala Batas, Penang, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Chong Soon
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Eu
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16150 Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Shyamala V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16150 Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Saedah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16150 Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Shamsul Kamalrujan
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Hassan
keywords: Breakage; children; retained caudal catheter; sequestrated; sheared