Epidural Anesthesia: Technique

INTRODUCTION

Standardizing the epidural technique is important in order to augment the efficiency and therefore the success of the technique and to decrease the incidence of complications.

PATIENT POSITIONING

Patient positioning is an important aspect of the procedure. Standardized positioning helps ensure a good quality block and minimizes complications. The lumbosacral approach is technically relatively simple due to the ample intervertebral space at L7-S1 (2-4 mm) in canines. Puggioni et al. (2006) showed that the greatest interarcuate space resulted when animals were in sternal recumbency with the spine flexed in a kyphotic position and the pelvic limbs extended cranio-dorsally on either side of the dog’s body 1 .

SKIN PREPARATION 

Infectious complications may occur with any regional anesthetic technique .

Some of the more commonly used solutions include povidone iodine or chlorhexidine gluconate with or without isopropyl alcohol. Several investigations have compared the antiseptic effects of chlorhexidine and povidone iodine under a variety of experimental conditions: Chlorhexidine seems to have a more rapid and superior bactericidal effect that extends several hours beyond its initial application. […]