Lumbar Spine Ultrasound of Patients With Previous Accidental Dural Puncture During Labour Epidural

December 12, 2007 updated by: Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital
Accidental dural puncture is a potential complication of epidural analgesia for labour and delivery. When it happens, it may cause debilitating headaches and other symptoms that prevent mothers from talking care of their newborns. Accidental dural puncture is related to the operator performance and to individual anatomical variations of the spine. The purpose of this study is to do a lumbar spine ultrasound on the patients who have had accidental dural punctures and analyze if there is any abnormal anatomy seen. Then, we will compare the position of any spinal abnormality to the position of the dural puncture reported in the anaesthesia record.

Study Overview

Status

Status

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Completed

Conditions

Conditions

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Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

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Detailed Description

Effective epidural analgesia depends on accurate identification of the epidural space for delivery of analgesic mixtures. The technique of loss of resistance to either saline or air is the most commonly used method to locate the epidural space. Although this technique has a high success rate, it is associated with a significant incidence of accidental dural punctures. Accidental dural punctures might be related to the operator performance or to individual anatomical variations.

A normal ligamentum flavum is fundamental in the loss of resistance technique. However, many cadaver dissection and radiological studies in the literature have showed that the ligamentum flavum may in fact not fuse at the midline; thereby leaving a gap between its left and right portions. Ligamentum flavum midline gaps are thought to be a potential cause of failed recognition of loss of resistance during epidural needle placement and consequently accidental dural puncture. Therefore, if it were feasible to avoid inserting the epidural needle at the same level where a ligamentum flavum midline gap exists, then dural punctures may be less likely.

Lumbar spine ultrasound has been very useful in consistently identifying important anatomical landmarks for epidural needle placement including the ligamentum flavum. It is unknown at this time whether ultrasound is a useful modality to detect abnormal anatomy. Our study will evaluate by ultrasound scan the lumbar vertebral column of patients who have had a previously recognized accidental dural puncture. Our objective is to determine whether or not there is a correlation between accidental dural punctures and abnormalities of ligamentum flavum as seen by ultrasound imaging. Our hypothesis is that patients who have had accidental dural punctures have abnormal anatomy of ligamentum flavum that can be detected by lumbar spine ultrasound.

Lumbar ultrasound imaging from L1-S1 will be performed with the patient in the sitting position. The best possible image captured at the transverse approach for each of the interspaces from L5-S1 to L1-L2 will be saved for analysis of both ligamentum flavum (primary outcome) and symmetry (secondary outcome). A normal ligamentum flavum is described as a hyperechoic continuous midline band, which is aligned with the hyperechoic signal of the transverse processes. An abnormal ligamentum flavum will be described as a non-continuous or even absent signal. The presence of symmetric anatomy is defined as an equal distant between the left and right articular processes and the transverse processes to the midline.

Incidence of abnormal ligamentum flavum and asymmetry will be presented in a descriptive way and the level of anatomical abnormality detected by ultrasound will be correlated to the level of dural puncture reported on the anaesthesia record.

Study Type

Study Type

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Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
56

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Ontario
      • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G 1X5
        • Mount Sinai Hospital

Participation Criteria

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Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients who had a documented, accidental dural puncture during placement of their labor epidural.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Previous dural puncture during labour epidural

Exclusion Criteria:

  • none

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

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Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
1
Patients who had a documented, accidental dural puncture during placement of their labor epidural.
Procedure: Ultrasound
Lumbar ultrasound from L1-S1, carried out using a portable ultrasound system equipped with a 2-5 MHz curved array probe.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Jose CA Carvalho, MD PhD, Mount Sinai Hospital

Study record dates

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Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
February 1, 2007

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
July 1, 2007

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
April 23, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 23, 2007

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
April 24, 2007

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
December 17, 2007

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
December 12, 2007

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
December 1, 2007

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

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Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 07-05
  • 07-0002-E

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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