COMBINED SPINAL AND EPIDURAL ANAESTHESIA FOR ABDOMINAL SURGERY: A NEW TECHNIQUE.

Combined spinal and epidural anaesthesia was used in 50 patients undergoing abdominal surgery. A fixed dose of 1.0 mL of 5 per cent lignocaine was injected intrathecally in all cases followed by 10 mL of 0.5 per cent bupivacaine epidurally, using "needle through needle" technique in the same lumbar intervertebral space. Subsequently epidural catheter was passed for top-up doses and postoperative analgesia. The advantages of this technique observed were immediate onset of intense block of prolonged, controllable duration and no incidence of post-spinal headache. Five cases developed intraoperative hypotension which required correction. No patient developed any complications of spinal and epidural anaesthesia.