Adami Chiara, Bergadano Alessandra, Spadavecchia Claudia
Department of Veterinary Clinical Science, Anesthesiology and Pain Therapy Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Berne, Länggasstraße 124, 3012 Berne, Switzerland.
Vet Med Int. 2013;2013:159489. doi: 10.1155/2013/159489. Epub 2013 Jun 18.
The use of pressure waves to confirm the correct position of the epidural needle has been described in several domestic species and proposed as a valid alternative to standard methods, namely, control radiographic exam and fluoroscopy. The object of this retrospective clinical study was to evaluate the sensitivity of the epidural pressure waves as a test to verify the correct needle placement in the epidural space in dogs, in order to determine whether this technique could be useful not only in the clinical setting but also when certain knowledge of needle's tip position is required, for instance when performing clinical research focusing on epidural anaesthesia. Of the 54 client-owned dogs undergoing elective surgeries and enrolled in this retrospective study, only 45% showed epidural pressure waves before and after epidural injection. Twenty-six percent of the animals showed epidural pressure waves only after the injection, whereas 29% of the dogs showed epidural pressure waves neither before nor after injection and were defined as false negatives. Our results show that the epidural pressure wave technique to verify epidural needle position lacks sensitivity, resulting in many false negatives. As a consequence, the applicability of this technique is limited to situations in which precise, exact knowledge of the needle's tip position is not mandatory.
利用压力波来确认硬膜外穿刺针的正确位置已在几种家养动物中有所描述，并被提议作为标准方法（即对照放射检查和荧光透视）的一种有效替代方法。这项回顾性临床研究的目的是评估硬膜外压力波作为一种检测手段，用于验证犬硬膜外间隙穿刺针正确位置的敏感性，以确定该技术是否不仅在临床环境中有用，而且在需要了解穿刺针尖端位置的某些知识时（例如在进行聚焦于硬膜外麻醉的临床研究时）也有用。在这项回顾性研究中纳入的54只接受择期手术的宠物犬中，只有45%在硬膜外注射前后显示出硬膜外压力波。26%的动物仅在注射后显示出硬膜外压力波，而29%的犬在注射前后均未显示硬膜外压力波，被定义为假阴性。我们的结果表明，用于验证硬膜外穿刺针位置的硬膜外压力波技术缺乏敏感性，导致许多假阴性结果。因此，该技术的适用性仅限于对穿刺针尖端位置不需要精确、确切了解的情况。
