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A formula for determining the distance from the skin to the lumbar epidural space in infants and children
Author(s) -
Akira Uemura,
Masao Yamashita
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
pediatric anesthesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.704
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1460-9592
pISSN - 1155-5645
DOI - 10.1111/j.1460-9592.1992.tb00221.x
Subject(s) - medicine , epidural space , lumbar , anesthesia , body weight , surgery
Summary In paediatric epidural anaesthesia, the distance from the skin to the epidural space is of special importance because of the great differences in size of the patients. We measured the distance from the skin to the lumbar epidural space (L3/4) in 355 paediatric patients. The epidural space was punctured using a midline approach under general anaesthesia, and was identified by the micro‐drip infusion technique. There was a good correlation between the distance to the epidural space and body weight. A clinically useful formula for estimating the distance from the skin to the lumbar epidural space was derived as follows: D = (W+10) × 0.8 where D = distance from the skin to the lumbar epidural space (L3/4) (mm) and W = body weight (kg).