Bacterial Sacroiliitis Probably Induced by Lumbar Epidural Analgesia

BACKGROUND: Properly administered, lumbar epidural analgesia provides adequate pain relief during labor and delivery, and is considered to be a safe procedure with limited complications. The prevalence of infection after lumbar epidural analgesia is negligible. INTRODUCTION: Infection of the sacroiliac joint, although very close to the pucture area, has never been reported as a procedure complication. CASE: In this report, we describe a patient who experienced bacterial sacroiliitis a few days after lumbar epidural analgesia for labor. No portal of entry was identified, and we evoked a new potential risk factor that has never been proposed before, namely lumbar epidural analgesia. CONCLUSION: Sacroiliitis must be considered as a rare but serious complication of lumbar epidural analgesia.