UI - 000126

AU - Tom CM

AU - Arias LM

AU - Barolat G

TI - Spinal opiate administration: a case of catheter misplacement

AB - Continuous spinal opiate administration via permanently implantable drug delivery devices has been

proven to provide profound analgesia for chronic pain conditions. We present a case in which the catheter of

an implantable subarachnoid device was misplaced into the subdural/extra-arachnoid space despite the free

flow of cerebrospinal fluid. This was verified by x-ray dye studies. It is postulated that this misplacement of

the catheter likely occurred as a result of recent lumbar punctures the patient had undergone. Extravasation

of cerebrospinal fluid created a false space and contributed to the misplacement and ultimate failure of the

device to provide analgesia

SO - Clinical Journal of Pain 1990;6:60-6