Authors: Brittany Noel Robles, Moez Sumar, Juan Mendoza, Omrou Alchyib, Ralph Ruggiero
Pneumocephalus is commonly caused by traumatic events or surgery. We describe it as a collection of air within the intracranial space that can be diagnosed with computed tomography (CT) scan of the head. Parturient patients are oftentimes offered epidural anesthesia to help manage associated labor pains resulting in them being a common obstetrical procedure. Pneumocephalus is a rare complication of epidural anesthesia and as such, many cases have not been discussed in the literature. Our case report describes a 35-year-old G2P0010 female patient who presented for an induction of labor (IOL) for a category II fetal heart tracing (FHT) with minimal variability. She received neuraxial/ epidural anesthesia resulting in fetal heart decelerations leading to an emergent cesarean section delivery. Patient complaints included a delayed onset headache which carried into her postpartum period until discharge. Complaints of a postural headache that was exacerbated by movement, relieved when supine, and only mildly managed with fioricet encompassed her postpartum course.
View/Download pdf