The incidence and causes of failed spinal anesthesia in a tertiary care Hospital: A retrospective observational study

Introduction: Spinal anesthesia (SA) is one of the most frequently applied anesthesia procedures today. However, SA failure rate varies between 1 and 17%. The age of the patient, the position at which the procedure is performed, or the characteristics of the technical operation can affect success. In this study, we aimed to compare the most frequent SA failures according to the types of surgery and causes of failure. The results of SA procedures performed in a Hospital were comparing to those published in the current literature. Material and Method: This study was conducted in Department of Anesthesia, MGMMC and M Y Hospital, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India. It was a one year retrospective study from January 2019 to December 2019. All the parturient undergoing surgery section was included in the study. Results: Of all anesthesia procedures, SA was applied at a rate of 25.97%. Our SA failure rate was calculated as 17.14%. Considering a single surgical procedure, obstetric anesthesia was the most common surgery with failed SA (27.77%). The most common cause of failure was insufficient analgesia (31.25%) and Unsuccessful lumbar puncture (27.07%) Conclusion: the incidence of failed spinal anesthesia was found to be higher compared to previous studies with the implication that we should give attention for this disgusting event. Since the study tried to identify risk factors for failure, we should act accordingly to minimize the failure rate.