Open AccessComparison of Needle Deviation During Regional Anesthetic Techniques in a Laboratory Model
Author(s) -
Dan J. Kopacz,
Hugh W. Allen
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
anesthesia and analgesia/anesthesia and analgesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.404
H-Index - 201
eISSN - 1526-7598
pISSN - 0003-2999
DOI - 10.1097/00000539-199509000-00037
Subject(s) - medicine , anesthetic , bevel , epidural space , lidocaine , spinal anesthesia , anesthesia , regional anesthesia , local anesthetic , absolute deviation , biomedical engineering , nuclear medicine , statistics , mathematics , structural engineering , engineering
Although many characteristics of needles used for spinal and epidural anesthesia have been studied extensively, the amount that a needle deviates from a straight path while passing through tissue has been relatively ignored. A laboratory model was used to determine the amount of needle deviation produced when different types of new spinal needles and epidural needles were passed through porcine tissue. Both needle point design and, to a lesser extent, needle gauge were found to influence the amount and direction of needle deviation. Deviation was found to be the least for the pencil-point spinal needles (Whitacre, Sprotte, Safetap, range 0.60-1.00 mm/50 mm tissue, analysis of variance (ANOVA) P < 0.001). Needles commonly used for epidural anesthesia (Tuohy, Hustead, Crawford) exhibited increased deviation (range 1.73-3.54 mm/50 mm tissue), although the largest amount was seen with beveled spinal needles (Quincke, Atraucan) (range 4.42-5.90 mm/50 mm tissue). The possible clinical significance of needle deviation during the performance of a regional anesthetic is discussed.