• T K Howell, D P Prosser, and M Harmer.
• Department of Anaesthetics and Intensive Care Medicine, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff, UK.
• Anaesthesia. 1998 Mar 1;53(3):238-43.

AbstractFive hundred members of the Obstetric Anaesthetists Association were surveyed regarding their technique for identification of the epidural space. Eighty-one per cent of the questionnaires were returned completed. Fifty-nine per cent of respondents first learned a loss of resistance to air technique, 33.4% to saline and 7.4% another technique. Presently, 37.1% and 52.7% use only a loss of resistance to air or saline, respectively. Six per cent use both techniques and 3.2% use other techniques. Twenty-eight per cent taught a loss of resistance to air, 57.2% taught a loss of resistance to saline and 12.9% taught both techniques. Twenty-three per cent changed from a loss of resistance to air, to a saline technique, and 4.2% vice versa. Forty-seven per cent of those using air felt that loss of resistance to air was not associated with a clinically significant difference in the incidence of accidental dural puncture compared with saline.

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