Background Complications associated with epidural analgesia in children have a reported incidence of 40-90 in 10,000 epidurals. We sought to determine the incidence of major complications with the use of continuous epidural analgesia that occurred in our centre over the past 15 years and to describe the nature of these complications. Methods The Acute Pain Service database at a tertiary care academic pediatric hospital was reviewed retrospectively over a 15-year period. Data were categorized according to patient age (neonate, infant, child one through eight years, and child [ eight years), mode of insertion of the epidural (caudal, transsacral, lumbar, thoracic), complication type, and complication severity. Results Over the 15-year period, 3,152 epidurals were performed. The use of caudal-thoracic epidurals in neonates and infants has increased since 2007. Twenty-four major complications were identified (incidence, 7.6 in 1,000 epidurals). The rate of complications in neonates