Key result
Obesity and small-gauge needles linked to increased spinal needle breakage risk during neuraxial anesthesia.
Why the study?
Spinal needle breakage occurs infrequently and represents a serious complication, prompting a review of its incidence, risk factors, and preventative measures.
What are the risk factors and preventative measures for spinal needle breakage during neuraxial anesthesia?
Systematic Review (n=23)
What are the risk factors and preventative measures for spinal needle breakage during neuraxial anesthesia?
Obesity and the use of small-gauge needles are key risk factors for the rare but serious complication of needle breakage during spinal anesthesia.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
May warrant larger-gauge needles in obese patients for neuraxial anesthesia; leaves optimal prevention open pending prospective studies.
Needle breakage during spinal anesthesia occurs infrequently and represents a serious complication with potentially adverse effects. The objective of this systemic review was to look at the incidence, risk factors, and preventative measures for broken spinal needles. A search of the literature on PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases and a manual web search was performed, with no filters and up to April 2023 from inception. Out of the 43 potential studies, 23 were included. The search terms for the full article reading were broken needle, spinal anesthesia, humans, and post-operative, and the exclusion criteria were systematic reviews, conference presentations, and non-full articles. A review of the 23 studies (24 cases) suggests an association between specific risk factors such as obesity and needle size and breaks. Identifying the risks and complications of needle breaks could help physicians modify their practice and inform their patients of any increased risks applicable to them.
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Alsharif et al. (2023) conducted a systematic review in Broken spinal needles during neuraxial anesthesia (n=23). Spinal needles was evaluated on Risk factors for broken spinal needles. A systematic review of 23 cases identified obesity and the use of small-gauge needles (25-gauge or smaller) as key risk factors for spinal needle breakage during neuraxial anesthesia.
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