Epidural catheter breakage: a possible mechanism

The breakage of an epidural catheter within a patient is an uncommon but tr oublesome complication of continuous epidural block, and its cause is rarel y discovered. Several possible mechanisms for catheter breakage have been p roposed, but few can be reproduced experimentally. Review of two recent med icolegal cases concerning catheters that were severed at the time of insert ion led to laboratory studies in an attempt to find an explanation. The res ults of this work demonstrated that it was possible to break or severely da mage an epidural catheter by heavy contact between the tip of the epidural needle and a bony surface, if a length of the catheter was protruding from the tip. (C) 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.