Accuracy of Manual Palpation vs Ultrasound for Spinal Anesthesia

Nationwide Children's Hospital50 enrolled

Overview

Although the current standard for lumbar puncture and spinal anesthesia is the use of manual palpation of surface landmarks to identify the correct interspace, performance of the procedure at too high of a level may increase the incidence of adverse effects. The current study will evaluate the efficacy of ultrasound in identifying the correct intervertebral space for lumbar puncture thereby improving the safety of the procedure.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

Purpose

DIAGNOSTIC

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Anesthesia, Local Infant Conditions

Interventions

UltrasoundDIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Ultrasound to locate the appropriate lumbar interspace to perform spinal anesthesia.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMax age: 12 Months

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Patients less than 1 year of age scheduled for spinal anesthesia for elective lower abdominal, urologic, or lower extremity surgery at Nationwide Children's Hospital Exclusion Criteria: * Parents unwilling for their children to undergo spinal anesthesia for surgery. * Children with known spinal anomalies including sacral dimple. * Children with coagulation abnormalities or receiving anticoagulation which precludes the use of spinal anesthesia. * Children with superficial or deep infections over the spine which precludes the use of spinal anesthesia.

Locations (1)

Nationwide Children's Hospital

Columbus, Ohio, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Intended Interspace

The vertebral interspace that the anesthesia provider believes that they had marked \& identified by manual palpation