58: The aspiration of injected air via epidural catheter as surrogate endpoint for appropriate placement of catheter in epidural space

Background and Aims: Combined epidural spinal anesthesia has gained increasing interest as it combines the reliability of spinal block and the flexibility of epidural block. The mecanism of epidural top-up technique may be explained by a volume effect compressing te dural sac. This study was designed to investigate the influence of saline injections as epidural top-up on the sensory and motor block duration, quality and hemodynamic effects of spinal anesthesia.