RESUMO
BACKGROUND: The epidural pressure is pulsatile and synchronized with arterial pulsations. Monitoring the epidural waveform has been suggested as a technique to reliably confirm the appropriate localization of the epidural catheter. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the Computer Controlled Drug Delivery System with continuous pressure and waveform sensing technology (CCDDS) (CompuFlo® CathCheck™) as an instrument to assess the correct placement of the catheter in the epidural space in parturients who have received combined spinal-epidural technique (CSE) for labor analgesia. METHODS: We enrolled 40 consecutive healthy patients undergoing CSE labor analgesia with successful analgesia. All the cases in which pulsatile waveforms in synchrony with heart rate were detected were considered to be true positives; all the cases in which there was the absence of pulsatile waves were followed up. If these patients had to eventually relocate or manipulate the epidural catheter, they were considered to be true negative. If the absence of pulse waves was observed in the presence of successful analgesia during labor, the patients were considered to be false negatives. RESULTS: Pulsatile waveforms synchronous with heart rate were observed in 33 cases associated with adequate analgesia. In 5 cases, the pulsatile waveforms were absent due to unilateral analgesia or catheter occlusion (true negatives). In 2 cases, the patients had effective analgesia but we were not able to observe a distinct pulsatile waveform. The pressure waveform analysis through the epidural catheter had a sensitivity of 95%, a positive predictive value of 100%, a specificity of 100% and a negative predictive value of 60%. CONCLUSION: Pulsatile pressure waveform recording with CCDDS through the epidural catheter resulted in high sensitivity and positive predictive value which can help the proper placement of the epidural catheter.
RESUMO
The ability of recognizing the ligamentum flavum is the first, crucial, important skill to teach novices when they are learning the epidural technique. The aim of this preliminary prospective study was to evaluate whether the Compuflo® Epidural instrument may help inexperienced trainees to better identify the ligamentum flavum during an epidural simulator training session. Compuflo® reduced the total number of attempts to identify the ligamentum flavum and increased three fold the chance to identify it at the first attempt during a simulator-assisted training module, making this identification easier for inexperienced trainees. This trial is registered with NCT03812926.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: In this study, we describe a custom-made new epidural simulator, created by modifying the inner structure of a commercially available one, in the attempt to make it adequately realistic. To validate and evaluate the realism of our device, we used the Computerized Epidural Instrument CompuFlo. METHOD: The Compuflo CompuFlo curves obtained from 64 experiments on the epidural simulator were compared to 64 curves obtained from a previous human study, from consecutive laboring parturients requesting epidural analgesia. RESULTS: Epidural simulator and human pressure curves were very similar. There was a significant difference between the drop of pressure due to false and true loss of resistance (LOR) in both the groups. DISCUSSION: Our simulator can realistically reproduce the anatomical layers the needle must pass as demonstrated by the similarity between the simulator and human pressure curves and the small differences of pressure values recorded. CompuFlo may be used as an objective tool to create and assess and compare objectively the epidural task trainers.
