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The Ewha Medical Journal
Ewha Womans University School of Medicine

Ewha Med J 1996; 19(4):521-525

pISSN: 1598-7450

DOI: https://doi.org/10.12771/emj.1996.19.4.521

Original Article

The Effect of Pregnancy and Posture on the Distance from Skin to Epidural Space

Rack Kyung Chung

Copyright ⓒ 1996. Ewha Womans University School of Medicine. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Published Online: Jul 24, 2015

Abstract

Objectives

This study was performed to assess the factor affecting the distance from skinto epidural space.

Methods

The distance from the skin to epidural space(DSES) was measured in 105 patients who received lumbar epidural anesthesia. The relationship between patient factors [age, weight, height, body mass index(BMI : weight/height2), pregnancy] and technical factor(posture) versus DSES was investigated using multiple regression analysis.

Results

The mean DSES was 4.5±0.7cm. DSES correlated positively with weight and BMI in non-obstetrics(including male), and BMI in obstetrics. But, DSES did not correlated with posture.

Conclusion

The patient's weight and BMI in non-obstetrics and BMI in obstetrics but posture during epidural needle placement are important factors influencing DSES.

Keywords: Epidural space; Obstetric; Posture