Clinic experience of peridual administration with 0.975% bupivacaine

Two hundred patients were given peridural anaesthesia with 16 ml of 0.975% plain bupivacaine in connection with operations on the lower extremities, and the lower abdomen or perineum. More than 92% of these had a good anaesthesia and a pronounced motor block. The frequency of serious complications was low but when they existed they were usually due to the spread of the anaesthesia which led to circulatory and respiratory insufficiency. It is therefore essential to be able to recognize such complications early and treat them rapidly.