THORACIC PARAVERTEBRAL BLOCKADE AND POSSIBLE COMPLICATIONS –CASE REPORT

Abstract

BACKGROUND Thoracic paravertebral blockade (TPB) is a technique of injecting local anaestheticand/or analgesic into the paravertebral space. It is used in surgical anaesthesia, acute(postoperative) and chronic pain therapy. TPB in postoperative setting provides adequateanalgesia, maintaines hemodynamic stability, reduces analgesics requirements andpromotes early mobilisation. Complications and side effects are rare (5–10 %).Patients and A case of 69-year-old man who experienced serious central nervous system disorders andmethods haemodynamic instability after the insertion of paravertebral catheter is presented. Accordingto our knowledge these complications could be attributed to systemic toxicity of localanaesthetic or to the epidural application of the drug. CONCLUSIONS Complications of regional anaesthesia are rare. The role of anaesthesiologist is to preventthem, to minimize the risk and to treat them as soon as possibl