• Hee Yong Kang, Jeong Eun Kim, Yun Jong Kim, Park Sung Wook SW Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Kyung Hee University Hospital, Seoul, Korea., and Youngsoon Kim.
• Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Kyung Hee University Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
• Pain Pract. 2019 Sep 1; 19 (7): 762-766.

BackgroundCervical epidural steroid injection (CESI) with local anesthetics is commonly used to treat neck pain and radicular pain of the upper extremity. Local anesthetic systemic toxicity (LAST) occurs shortly after injection as a complication; however, delayed onset is a very rare event, especially in central nervous system (CNS) block.Case ReportWe present a case in which delayed onset of LAST occurred in a patient who received CESI for cervical and arm radiating pain due to a cervical disc protrusion. We performed the interlaminar approach for CESI using fluoroscopic guidance. After confirming the location of the epidural space using the loss of resistance technique and spreading of contrast agent (Telebrix® 30), a mixture of 0.25% levobupivacaine 12.5 mg (5 mL in volume), hyaluronidase 1,500 IU (1 mL), dexamethasone 5 mg (1 mL), and normal saline 3 mL was administrated. After 50 minutes of injection, the patient showed CNS toxicity (unconsciousness, seizure) with normal blood pressure and tachycardia; therefore, she was immediately sedated with intravenous midazolam (3 mg), and 15 L/min of oxygen was administered. The patient fully recovered after 30 minutes of sedation without any sequelae.ConclusionDelayed onset of LAST is a rare complication of a common procedure in CESI, so it is important to be aware of this complication and the presentation of toxicity.© 2019 World Institute of Pain.

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