What complications can occur from regional anesthesia (epidural)?
Although uncommon, complications can be associated with regional anesthesia. The occurrence of a headache after epidural or spinal is approximately 1 percent. Sometimes these headaches can become severe, but they are treatable and have no long-term consequences. Nerve injuries from catheter placement, infection, or hematoma are exceedingly rare, but usually resolve spontaneously or with medical intervention. Rarely, an intravascular or spinal catheter may go undetected, which may have serious effects on the mothers heart or respirations. This unlikely event is avoided by careful observation and use of a test dose. Shivering and backache can both be associated with epidural, but occur in laboring and postpartum patients without epidural as well.
