ABSTRACT
Spinal Anesthesia [S.A] is currently becoming a more common and popular method for orthopedic surgeries. Unfortunately, Backache [BA] and Post Dural Puncture Headache [PDPH] are both frequent and troublesome. Several factors [including needle shape and size, frequency rates of puncture attempts, and age and gender] have been shown to affect the rates of such complications. To determine these factors and evaluate some modalities to prevent them. This is a prospective study on 200 patients- 15 to 65 years old with class type 1 and 2 A.S.A [American Society of Anesthesiology], who were candidates for orthopedic lower extremity surgeries. Anesthetic procedure was performed using a standard 24G needle L idocaine 5% plus Epinephrine. Symptom questionnaire was filled for the history of Headache and Backache and history of former S.A. postop puncture complications of 1[st] day, 1[st] week and 1[st] month were added to the forms. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 16 and the results were considered significant at p<0.05. Rates of BA and PDPH were 12.5% and 17%, respectively. Post anesthetic BA for first day, week, and month were 16%, 9%, and 3.5%, respectively and PDPH were 6.5%, 3.5% and 1% respectively with no significant differences. History of former spinal anesthesia with BA and PDPH revealed notable differences [p<0.001]. The results of this study support the idea that history of previous spinal anesthesia could be a triggering factor for backache and headache in prior Spinal anesthetic procedures