Assessment of Skin to Epidural Distance in Children: An Observational Study

Abstract

Performing lumbar epidural anaesthesia in children to provide analgesia in peri-operative period requires meticulous technique and have increased success rate if we can predict the distance from skin to posterior epidural space. The main purpose of this observational study is to measure skin to epidural distance (SED) in lumbar region in Indian children and to determine whether there is any correlation with age, weight, height of the children. Epidural space is identified by using loss of resistance (LOR) to air. The distance from the tip of the needle to the point where we encountered LOR is measured. We have analysed 52 children who received lumbar epidural anaesthesia for various surgeries. Strong correlation was noted between age, weight, height and SED and of all the variables weight has the strong prediction. We derived predicted equation based on the correlation between variables.