Incidence of Backache After Spinal Anaesthesia Comparing Gender, Age and Number of Attempts.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Back pain is often reported as a common complaint after surgery following spinal anaesthesia. Many studies showed that the incidence of back pain after spinal anaesthesia is high and its magnitude is considerable in developing countries. It is highly related to reduced quality of life, loss of work productivity, burden of health care costs, and satisfaction regarding health care service; therefore, measures should be taken to reduce or prevent post spinal back ache. The aim of this prospective observational study is to asses the incidence of backache after spinal anaesthesia comparing gender, age and number of attempts. METHODS An institutional based prospective observational study was conducted from March to May 2022 in Saveetha Medical College Hospital, Thandalam, Chennai. A total of 100 participants were enrolled in this study. A convenience sampling technique was used to get the study participants. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS Both univariable and multivariable logistic regression were used to identify factors associated with postspinal back pain. Variables with a p value less than <0.2 in the bivariable analysis were tted into the multivariable analysis. In the multivariable analysis, a variable with a p value of <0.05 was considered statistically signicant. RESULTS The incidence of post spinal back pain was positively correlating with increase in number of attempts and increase in number of bony contacts during the spinal anaesthesia procedure and was higher in females and younger age group. DISCUSSION The overall incidence of back pain is high. Number of attempts and number of bone contacts are signicantly associated with the incidence of back pain following spinal anaesthesia. Post spinal back pain is of mild type and it manifests in rst two to six hours after surgical procedure when the local anaesthetic effect wears off. Fear of back pain in post spinal anesthesia is the main reason for patient refusal and it accounts for a rate of 13.4%. CONCLUSION This study conrms that overall incidence of backpain is high when the number of attempts, bone contacts are high .Hence, health professionals should minimize the number of attempts and bone contacts during lumbar puncture to reduce the incidence of post spinal back pain. Finally, conducting a similar study to assess the long term occurrence of postspinal back pain is recommended.