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14 Complications of Loco‐Regional Anesthesia
Eva Rioja Garcia DVM, DVSc, PhD, DACVAA, DECVAA, MRCVS
Optivet Referrals, Havant, Hampshire, UK
Overview
All pain management techniques and drugs have the potential to produce complications related to the technique itself or due to the drugs’ side effects; however, the benefits related to the pain relief that they provide usually outweigh the risks. When performing loco‐regional blocks the anatomy (landmarks) of the region as well as the technique should be well known to avoid puncture and potential damage of structures or organs. This chapter will cover some of the most important and relevant complications related to loco‐regional blocks. Complications related to loco‐regional blocks performed for lameness examination are included in Chapter 44: Complications of Diagnostic Tests for Lameness.
List of Complications Associated with Loco‐Regional Anesthesia
General complicationsVascular punctureNerve injuryMyotoxicityChondrotoxicityAllergic reactions
Complications related to specific loco‐regional blocksEpidural AnalgesiaAtaxia/Recumbency
Infection inside the spinal canal
PruritusRetrobulbar Blocks
Brainstem AnesthesiaInferior Alveolar Nerve Block
Self‐Inflicted Lingual TraumaIntravenous regional anesthesia (IVRA)
Tourniquet failure
Local and systemic effects of tourniquet ischemia
General Complications
Vascular Puncture
Definition
When performing a loco‐reginal block, significant bleeding due to puncture of a blood vessel or inadvertent intravascular injection of the local anesthetic, either in a vein or an artery, can occur.
Risk factors
Use of blind techniques
Lack of knowledge of anatomy of the region
Injecting the local anesthetic with no previous aspiration
Significant bleeding may occur in horses with coagulopathies
Pathogenesis
When a nerve is targeted to perform a block, there is always an associated vein and artery nearby; therefore, there is always the potential to puncture a blood vessel and consequently to induce bleeding and hematoma formation in the area. Similarly, there is the potential to inadvertently inject intravenously or intra‐arterially. This can lead to systemic toxicity, which could be even lethal, depending on the dose of local anesthetic administered intravascularly.
In the spinal canal, there are many blood vessels that could be punctured when performing an epidural injection, the most prominent being two venous plexuses at the floor of the canal, that run parallel to the spinal cord on each side. When performing a proximal paravertebral block with the needle inserted paramedially (parallel to the sagittal plane, separated a few centimeters from the spinal canal), there is also risk of arterial or venous puncture, especially if the needle is advanced too far as it could reach the abdominal aorta (left side) or caudal vena cava (right side).
A recent retrospective study in horses looked at the complications associated with loco‐regional anesthesia for dental procedures, and found that hematoma occurred in 5 out of 270 blocks performed, giving a 1.8% incidence rate [1]. There is a report of retrobulbar hematoma formation in a dog following inadvertent puncture of a blood vessel during a maxillary block, which led to exophthalmos, periorbital swelling, extensive scleral hemorrhage and ecchymosis [2]. In humans, bleeding or intravascular cannulation occurred in 0.67% of cases where an epidural technique was performed [3]; however, this article did not report the consequences of this complication.
Systemic toxicity related to local anesthetics injected intravascularly inadvertently usually starts with the development of neurological signs and it is followed by signs of cardiovascular toxicity. There are no published reports of systemic toxicity in horses following regional anesthetic blocks, most likely because the toxic dose is normally higher than the dose administered locally. In small animals, seizures occurred in two medetomidine‐sedated dogs following subcutaneous administration of lidocaine for skin biopsies, although in these animals a very high dose was used and most likely this caused the systemic toxicity and not an inadvertent intravascular injection [4]. Severe cardiovascular depression was reported in an anesthetized cat immediately following mandibular nerve block with bupivacaine and seizure‐like activity upon recovery, which could have been due to inadvertent intravascular injection as the dose administered was low [5]. In the human literature, there are reports of inadvertent intravascular injection during different types of blocks, leading to seizures and/or cardiac arrest; however, the overall incidence of major complications is very low [6].
Prevention
Knowledge of the anatomy, careful needle insertion and avoiding passing the needle repeated times should decrease the risk of puncturing a blood vessel.
Aspiration before injection should be done to ensure no intravascular injection. Once it has been ascertained that the needle is not in a vessel it should not be moved and injection performed. Whenever the needle is repositioned aspiration should be done again before injecting.
Ultrasound‐guided needle insertion can prevent puncturing undesired structures such as blood vessels [7, 8].
The toxic dose of the local anesthetic should be calculated for the individual horse, and the total administered dose should be below this toxic dose.
When performing epidural injections, the risk of puncturing a venous plexus is lower when the needle is in midline and is not advanced to the floor of