Abstract

Background: Postdural puncture headache is an unpleasant complication of spinal anesthesia. Weaimed to investigate the association between the position in which spinal anesthesia was performed andoccurrence of postdural puncture headache.Methodology: Records of patients who underwent cesarean section between January 2013 and November2013 with spinal anesthesia were examined retrospectively. Patients older than 18 were included inthe study. Convertion to general anesthesia was the exclusion criteria. Demographic data of patients(age, weight, height and physical status), comorbid diseases, position of patient while performing spinalanesthesia, the number of spinal puncture attempts and the incidence of postdural puncture headachewere recorded.Results: A total of 149 records of patients, who met the inclusion criteria, were analysed (sitting positionn=72 and lateral position n=77). Postdural puncture headache developed in 11 (15.2%) in the sittingposition and 10 (12.9%) in the lateral position (p>0.05). There was no difference between groups interms of age, weight, height, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status, comorbiddiseases, attemp numbers and frequency of postdural puncture headache (p>0.05).Conclusion: We conclude that the patient position during spinal anesthesia performance does not affectpostdural puncture headache incidence. Therefore, one of them may be preferred according to theexperience of anesthesist.