An unusual late complication of peridural anesthesia: The case of a subdural spinal epidermoid cyst: A case report and literature review

The peridural approach is primarily used today to provide analgesia in obstetrics and postoperative care. Peridural analgesia is not only more effective than systemic analgesia, but it also has benefits in terms of morbidity, particularly regarding postoperative respiratory complications and the shortened duration of postoperative ileus. Unlike dural tears, immediate and severe neurological complications such as hematomas or abscesses are very rare. Long-term sequelae are less well known because the relationship with epidural analgesia performed several months or years earlier is not always well established. We report a rare case of a 35-year-old patient with a history of epidural anesthesia five years ago during childbirth, who was admitted with cauda equina syndrome. MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) of the lumbar spine showed a subdural lesion at the level of L3. The patient underwent resection of the lesion, and the pathological examination of the surgical specimen concluded it was an epidermoid cyst.