Der Anaesthesist
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Of 434 cases of epidural, subdural, and intracranial haematomas published in the last 2-3 decades, 61 had developed following spinal, epidural or caudal anaesthetic procedures; 29 haematomas were around the spinal cord and 32, within the cranium. The most frequent secondary cause of this complication was pre-, intra-, or postoperative administration of drugs influencing blood coagulation. Simultaneous traumatic and haemorrhagic punctures may favour the development of a haematoma. ⋯ Postoperative results of laminectomies for lumbothoracic haematomas has been found to on the time interval between the first symptoms and the start of surgery. If surgery is performed within 8 h after the onset of paraplegia the prognosis is relatively good. Compared with the frequency of spinal, epidural, and caudal anaesthetic procedures throughout the world, haematomas of the lumbothoracic or cranial region are extremely rare complications.