-
Case Reports
Pneumocephalus Following Unidentified Dural Puncture: A Case Report with an Unusual Neurological Presentation.
- Helena Dutra Figueiera, Joana Guimaraes, Ana Luisa Sousa, and Ana Margarida Regalado.
- Anesthesiology, Intensive Care and Emergency Department, Centro Hospitalar do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
- Pain Physician. 2017 Feb 1; 20 (2): E329-E334.
AbstractPneumocephalus is a rare consequence of epidural anesthesia, which may occur following inadvertent or unidentified dural puncture when the loss of resistance to air technique is applied to identify the epidural space. Headache is the most common symptom presented in this condition, usually with sudden onset. This case report describes an unusual presentation of diffuse pneumocephalus after an unidentified dural puncture. The patient (male, 67 years old) was submitted to epidural catheter placement for the treatment of acute exacerbation of ischemic chronic pain using loss of resistance to air technique. No cerebrospinal fluid or blood flashback was observed after needle withdrawal. Shortly after the intervention, the patient presented symptoms of lethargy, apathy, and hypophonia, which are not commonly associated with pneumocephalus. No motor or sensory deficits were detected. Cranial computed tomography showed air in the frontal horn of the left ventricle, subarachnoid space at interhemispheric fissure and basal cisterns, confirming the diagnosis of diffuse pneumocephalus. The patient remained under vigilance with oxygen therapy and the epidural catheter left in place. After 24 hours, cranial computed tomography showed air in the temporal and frontal horns of the left ventricle, with no air in the subarachnoid space. The patient presented no neurological signs or symptoms at this time. Although headache is the most common symptom presented in reported cases of pneumocephalus, this case shows the need for the clinician to be aware of other signs and symptoms that may be indicative of this condition, in order to properly diagnose and treat these patients.Key words: Pneumocephalus, continuous epidural analgesia, ischemic chronic pain, loss-of-resistance to air technique, dural puncture, headache, unusual presentation.
Notes
Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
- Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as
*italics*
,_underline_
or**bold**
. - Superscript can be denoted by
<sup>text</sup>
and subscript<sub>text</sub>
. - Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines
1. 2. 3.
, hyphens-
or asterisks*
. - Links can be included with:
[my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
- Images can be included with:
![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
- For footnotes use
[^1](This is a footnote.)
inline. - Or use an inline reference
[^1]
to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document[^1]: This is a long footnote.
.