Epidural catheter migration in non-obstetric adult surgical patients: A prospective, observational, cohort study

Epidural catheter migration is a well-described complication in the obstetric population, though its significance in the non-obstetric surgical population is not known. The purpose of this study was to explore the incidence of epidural catheter migration in a non-obstetric adult surgical cohort, assess the factors associated with migration and analyse complications among patients with and without catheter migration.

In this single-centre, prospective, observational study, the acute pain services team collected data over 12 months on consecutive, adult non-obstetric surgical patients who received an epidural catheter for postoperative pain management. Details of epidural catheter insertion, fixation, migration and complications were collected from the first to the fourth postoperative day.

Of the 510 patients recruited, epidural catheter migration was noted in 233 patients (45.7%), of which 152 (65.2%) migrated outwards and the rest migrated inwards. Also, 72 (30.9%) and 86 (31.05%) complications were noted in the groups with and without catheter migration, respectively. The most frequent complications noted were inadequate analgesia, unilateral sensory block, motor block and hypotension in both groups. We did not find any correlation between the frequency of epidural catheter migration and demographic factors.

Epidural catheter migration is a sizeable postoperative occurrence in non-obstetric surgical patients. Factors that might play a role in catheter migration could not be established in this study. There is an almost similar frequency of complications noted among patients with and without catheter migration, with the most common being inadequate analgesia in both groups.