Real-time ultrasound-guided epidural catheter placement in infants: a case series.

Although epidural catheter insertion under ultrasound (US) guidance in the pediatric age group has been reported in the literature, it is yet to be adopted widely in clinical practice. The incomplete fusion of bones in pediatric patients provides an acoustic window for the US. The epidural space in children is at shallow depth, hence a high-frequency probe, which provides better resolution can be used.

Comparison of landmark and real-time ultrasound-guided epidural catheter placement in the pediatric population: a prospective randomized comparative trial.

Background: Epidural block placement in pediatric patients is technically challenging for anesthesiologists. The use of ultrasound (US) for the placement of an epidural catheter has shown promise. We compared landmark-guided and US-guided lumbar or lower thoracic epidural needle placement in pediatric patients.