Ultrasound-guided spinal anesthesia for cesarean section in a parturient with spinal metastases

Preprocedural spinal ultrasound appears to decrease the failure rate and complications of neuraxial anesthesia compared to the conventional landmark technique. It is especially beneficial in difficult cases where conventional palpation technique may fail. We recently encountered a parturient with multiple lumbar and cervical spinal metastatic lesions presenting for cesarean section in the third trimester. We used spinal ultrasound to define the appropriate intervertebral space and measure the distance to the ligamentum flavum-dura mater complex. This greatly helped in administering a safe spinal anesthetic and avoiding general anesthesia which might have been hazardous in this patient.