title: Risk of Epidural Hematoma after Neuraxial Techniques in Thrombocytopenic Parturients: A Report from the Multicenter Perioperative Outcomes Group.
abstract: Thrombocytopenia has been considered a relative or even absolute contraindication to neuraxial techniques due to the risk of epidural hematoma. There is limited literature to estimate the risk of epidural hematoma in thrombocytopenic parturients. The authors reviewed a large perioperative database and performed a systematic review to further define the risk of epidural hematoma requiring surgical decompression in this population.
  
  
  
  The authors performed a retrospective cohort study using the Multicenter Perioperative Outcomes Group database to identify thrombocytopenic parturients who received a neuraxial technique and to estimate the risk of epidural hematoma. Patients were stratified by platelet count, and those requiring surgical decompression were identified. A systematic review was performed, and risk estimates were combined with those from the existing literature.
  
  
  
  A total of 573 parturients with a platelet count less than 100,000 mm who received a neuraxial technique across 14 institutions were identified in the Multicenter Perioperative Outcomes Group database, and a total of 1,524 parturients were identified after combining the data from the systematic review. No cases of epidural hematoma requiring surgical decompression were observed. The upper bound of the 95% CI for the risk of epidural hematoma for a platelet count of 0 to 49,000 mm is 11%, for 50,000 to 69,000 mm is 3%, and for 70,000 to 100,000 mm is 0.2%.
  
  
  
  The number of thrombocytopenic parturients in the literature who received neuraxial techniques without complication has been significantly increased. The risk of epidural hematoma associated with neuraxial techniques in parturients at a platelet count less than 70,000 mm remains poorly defined due to limited observations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, Michigan (L.O.L., S.K., T.T.K., M.H., M.E.B.); Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (B.T.B.); Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon (M.F.A., K.W.H.); Taubman Health Sciences Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan (M.M.); Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina (C.G.G.); and Department of Anesthesiology, Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York (J.B.). Department of Anesthesiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Beaumont Health, Dearborn, Michigan Beaumont Health, Royal Oak, Michigan Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care, and Pain Medicine, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care, and Pain Medicine, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York Department of Anesthesiology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma St. Joseph Mercy, Ann Arbor, Michigan Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, Michigan Department of Anesthesiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Department of Anesthesiology, University of Tennessee Medical Center, Knoxville, Tennessee Department of Anesthesiology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah Department of Anesthesiology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah Department of Anesthesiology, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, Vermont Department of Anesthesiology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington Department of Anesthesiology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee Department of Anesthesiology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee Department of Anesthesiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut Beaumont Health, Farmington Hills, Michigan Bronson Healthcare, Battle Creek, Michigan Bronson Healthcare, Kalamazoo, Michigan Anesthesiology Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio Anesthesiology Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio Department of Anesthesiology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York Holland Hospital, Holland, Michigan Mercy Health, Muskegon, Michigan Department of Anesthesiology, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York St. Joseph Mercy Oakland, Pontiac, Michigan St. Mary Mercy Hospital, Livonia, Michigan Sparrow Health System, Lansing, Michigan Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California Department of Anesthesiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands Department of Anesthesiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands Department of Anesthesiology, University of Colorado, Aurora, Colorado Department of Anesthesiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri Department of Anesthesiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.
authors.forename: Linden O
authors.initials: LO
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Brian T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Bateman
authors.forename: Sachin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kheterpal
authors.forename: Thomas T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Klumpner
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Housey
authors.forename: Michael F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Aziz
authors.forename: Karen W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Hand
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: MacEachern
authors.forename: Christopher G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Goodier
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bernstein
authors.forename: Melissa E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Bauer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000767:Anesthesia, Epidural / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000773:Anesthesia, Obstetrical / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D019299:Decompression, Surgical; D005260:Female; D046748:Hematoma, Epidural, Spinal / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D010976:Platelet Count / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011247:Pregnancy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012306:Risk; D013921:Thrombocytopenia / Q000150:complications*