• Matthew S Abrahams, L Michele Noles, Robert Cross, and Jean-Louis Horn.
• Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA. abrahama@ohsu.edu
• Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2011 Sep 1;36(5):476-80.

BackgroundAs the use of ambulatory continuous peripheral nerve blocks continues to grow, new management issues will inevitably arise. Previous descriptions of difficult catheter removal due to cutting, knotting, or kinking of the catheter have involved inpatients. A series of retained ambulatory interscalene catheters has recently been reported.MethodsWe present a series of 4 retained stimulating perineural catheters, which could not be removed though the catheters appeared intact and not significantly bent on plain radiographs. We discuss the potential aspects of our block technique and the catheters' design that may have complicated their removal, as well as our management of these patients.ConclusionsStimulating perineural catheters may be difficult to remove. This may be particularly problematic for outpatients removing the catheters at home.

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