[Disturbance of micturition, a harmless side effect of subdural regional anesthesia?]

The authors report on a disturbance of micturition following spinal anaesthesia which due to improper treatment took two months to resolve. The neurological status showed failures which were due both to the anaesthesia (irritation of root in the S 4 and S 5 regions by the spinal needle and action of the local anaesthetic agent) and to the surgery of a relapsing inguinal hernia (irritation existed, we could not exclude the possibility that the primary disturbance of bladder emptying was due to the anaesthesia and not to the surgical procedure of a possible mental component. In any case, the long-term atony resulting from the basically harmless handicap - even requiring placement of a suprapubic bladder fistula - could have been avoided if the postsurgical treatment had been conducted properly and in accordance with good medical practice.