Neurologic Complications

Neurologic complications after regional techniques in obstetric patients are fortunately rare, and often they are not due to the neuraxial block. They can be classified into three groups: (1) those relating directly to anesthesia, (2) those unrelated to anesthesia, and (3) those in which anesthesia is an incidental, but possibly a contributory factor.^[221] Neurologic examination of postpartum women has revealed transient postpartum sensory dysfunction in up to 21% of women who did not report any symptoms, and these symptoms were unrelated to regional anesthesia.^[222] Neurologic complications are five times more common after childbirth itself than after regional blockade. ^[223] Most neurologic injuries after delivery that are obstetric in origin may be a result of the instrumentation, nonanatomic positioning during labor, or compression of sacral nerve roots by the fetal head during delivery.