Broken needle during spinal anesthesia: an avoidable complication

Abstract

The occurrence of a needle breaking is a very rare complication of spinal anesthesia (SA). We report a case of a broken spinal needle occurring in a morbid obese pregnant woman during SA indicated for an emergent cesarean section. Multiple puncture attempts due to difficult identification of lumbar spine, associated with an inadequate use of the introducer, contributed to this complication. The recognition of predictive factors for difficult neuraxial anesthesia, the use of ultrasound in obese patients, and a properly executed technique may have allowed avoiding this complication.