Pediatric Lumbar Epidural Catheter Placement via the Landmark Technique.

This video demonstrates an epidural catheter placement on a 2-year-old, 12kg male patient presenting for left hip osteotomy. His past medical history was remarkable for congenital heart defects, bilateral congenital hip dislocations, and a sacral dimple which is sometimes associated with neurologic spinal canal abnormalities. In this case, no neurologic anatomical abnormalities were demonstrated on the neonatal spine ultrasound. The patient was placed in a left lateral decubitus position. Using anatomical landmarks like Tuffier’s line or the intercristal line corresponding to L4-L5 level, the target level for needle placement was identified and marked. The patient’s skin was sterilized and draped under sterile conditions. An 18-gauge, 5 cm length Tuohy needle was used to encounter the epidural space. A general guideline for the depth to the epidural space from the skin is approximately 1mm/kg of body weight¹. Subsequently, a 20-gauge catheter was placed through the needle to a depth of 4.5 cm at the level of the skin. Negative aspiration of blood or CSF was confirmed. A test dose was calculated at 0.5 mcg/kg epinephrine or 0.1ml/kg of lidocaine 1.5% with epinephrine 1:200,000. In this case, a 1.2 mL test dose of lidocaine 1.5% with epinephrine 1:200,000 was given without any observed cardiovascular changes (e.g. ≥ 25% increase or decrease in T wave amplitude, HR increase ≥ 10 bpm, or SBP increase ≥ 15 mmHg)¹. Finally, the catheter was secured to the back of the patient. Parental consent was obtained for the publication of this video.