Manipulation of epidural catheter that has migrated restores adequate postoperative analgesia--a case report

The use of epidural anesthesia and analgesia is ordinary in patients undergoing total knee replacement (TKR). As many as 23% of epidural anesthetics may not provide satisfactory analgesia for women in labor. A similar condition is encountered following the operation of TKR. We reported a case in whom the in-place epidural catheter which functioned well for surgical anesthesia previously migrated to an intervertebral foramen postoperatively and led to failure of providing post-operative analgesia. With deliberate manipulation we succeeded in restoring its function and analgesia showed up again.