Epidural catheter anchored in the posterior lateral epidural space: How to manage it

We describe a case of an epidural catheter entrapment without knotting, kinking, shearing or breakage confirmed by CT scan and how to manage it. A patient was admitted for tibial fracture repair under general anesthesia with an epidural. At discharge day, multiple attempts to retrieve the catheter were made. Contrast CT scan showed the catheter anchored in the left posterior-lateral epidural space. Despite the absence of guidelines regarding epidural catheter entrapment, all the methods described in the literature were used. This is a rare complication and it may be associated with neurological and infectious complications. Radiologic imaging should be obtained to better characterize the catheters' position and plan removal. In this case, tension in the paraspinal muscles or in the supraspinous and intraspinous ligaments could explain the entrapment. General anesthesia with the non-depolarising muscle relaxant allowed muscles and ligaments to relax and we were able to retrieve the catheter intact.