Survey of the use of epidural analgesia in China

It is generally believed that epidural blocks are most widely used in China. However, there is yet no substantial study in this respect. A nation-wide survey appears to be necessary. Questionnaires were sent to 237 hospitals located in 6 geographically wide-scattered areas and to some military hospitals as well. 90 answers were obtained with complete data necessary for this survey. There are 1,304,214 administrations of epidural blocks documented in these 90 hospitals. Of which 38.8% are lumbar, 32% lower thoracic, 23% middle thoracic, 4.6% upper thoracic and 1.6% cervical blocks. These data showed that operations from the neck down to the lower extremities were performed under epidural block without discrimination of puncture location. 98.33% of the blocks were satisfactory to meet the need of operations. Persisting paresthesia occurred in 0.013% of these cases. The incidence of accidental puncture of dura was 0.32%. About 2/3 of these dura punctured cases received 1-4 times of repuncture. No correlation was found between repuncture and development of total spinal anesthesia. Among the complications, incidence of respiratory depression was 0.54%. However, only 5% of these depressed cases needed intubation and artificial ventilation. No signs of dura puncture were noticed, but subarachnoid block did appear in 0.04 of cases. Incidence of total spinal anesthesia was 0.013%. Not all, but a little more than half (54.6%) of the total spinal cases needed intubation and artificial ventilation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)