[Comparative study of detection methods in epidural anesthesia: Episensor and loss of resistance]

The aim of the present study is to evaluate an electronic detector of negative pressure (Episensor, Palex, Spain) designed for the identification of epidural space. Ninety patients were randomly assigned to two groups: group 1 (n = 47) received epidural anesthesia as perioperative analgesic technique with Episensor method and group 2 (n = 43) received epidural anesthesia with the classic method of loss of resistance with gas mandrin. The following parameters were studied: a) demographic features, b) characteristics of epidural anesthesia, and c) complications occurring during space detection. There were no statistical differences in the analysis of demographic variables neither in the quality of the epidural anesthesia achieved in both groups. With respect to complications, group I presented the highest number of complications although only the lack of detection of epidural space achieved statistical significance (8.5%, p less than 0.05); the incidence was lower than that reported in the literature as physiologically possible in the lumbar epidural segment. We conclude that progressive knowledge of Episensor may decrease the initial incidence of complications with a success rate similar to that of classic techniques of identification of epidural space.