There are a few things a laboring woman never wants to hear, and high atop that list is her anesthesiologist saying: “Wow, I’ve never seen that before!” But alas there I was, six or seven centimeters dilated, in full labor, hunched over the bed and waiting for the epidural to do its magic, when my anesthesiologist said just that! Moments later he declared he had to back up and do the epidural from the beginning. And so we did, and by the time the epidural was placed, it was time for me to push!
Once I was drugged up and settled in to rest before pushing, the anesthesiologist came back to my room to explain what had happened: a rare epidural shear. The thin tubing that administers the epidural snaps mid-placement, leaving a bit of tubing in between my third and fourth vertebrae.
Totally worth it!
Epidural shears are extremely rare; if this page is accurate, it sounds like there are only one or two annually per state. But according to the FDA, epidural shear is becoming more common, although they do not speculate why this is the case.
At the point that my anesthesiologist informed me about the shear, I was so focused on getting the baby out that I didn’t have the mental space to consider what this meant. But while I was in recovery I spoke again with the anesthesiologist, with a patient care representative at the hospital, and a neurosurgeon. They explained my options: I could either leave the tubing there forever, as there was little risk of infection or travel, or I could opt to have it removed surgically. But there was no guarantee that the neurosurgeon would be able to find the tiny tubing piece if I decided to have it removed.
I’m one of those people who find surgery terrifying, so I was initially content with leaving the piece in. But all my family and friends were horrified that I would consider this possibility and urged me to consider it. I decided to have a CAT scan done to see if it was possible for the tubing to be removed. Looking at the result, the neurosurgeon felt that he could find the tubing, and since I had already met my out of pocket maximum for the year, I agreed to try surgery. The neurosurgeon suggested that I stay another night in the hospital and have surgery the next day.
I opted against surgery at that time for a couple of reasons. To begin, I had an episiotomy and had a hard time sitting on my bottom and laid on my back a lot; I didn’t want to lose my only comfortable position thanks to back surgery. Also, when my first son was born we had to go back to the hospital because I had a very bad urinary tract infection, and ended up spending one night of my husband’s scant paternity leave in the hospital. This time around I was determined to spend his paternity leave in the comfort of home. I also wanted to establish breastfeeding before my surgery date.
I opted for surgery when my youngest was about three weeks old. At that point I had healed from childbirth, was no longer bleeding, and had established breastfeeding. I consulted my LC to make sure it would be ok to breastfeed after surgery and pumped some milk for the baby. When I got to the surgical ward all my nurses were interested in the unusual nature of my case, and they were very helpful in allowing me to breastfeed up until the very last moment.
Fortunately the surgery only lasted about an hour so the baby didn’t have to go long between feedings. However, the neurosurgeon was not able to find the tubing! He speculated that the CAT scan had caught something else (perhaps a little blood where the tubing had been), or he had sucked the tubing up when he was cleaning the incision before he even got started looking. So as far as I know, I’ve still got the piece in my back somewhere.
The most frustrating part of the experience was healing from the fruitless surgery. I was in a surprising amount of pain after the surgery and needed a lot of help in the week after. As for the future, assuming I am blessed with another pregnancy, if I ever opt for another epidural, I will have to ask the anesthesiologist to place it between the 4th and 5th vertebrae. And I might in the future ask for pain medicine administered via syringe if I am beyond five centimeters dilated and making steady progress!
Did you have any unusual birth complications?
cantaloupe / 6730 posts
That’s so creepy. Now something else to worry about if I ever get an epi. Why would you want further epis in the same place as the last one? Could you end up pushing it in further?
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
I never knew that could happen! How interesting and frightening! Thankfully, it won’t affect you in the long term, but that sucks the surgery was pointless if he didn’t suck it out accidentally while cleaning the incision.
GOLD / nectarine / 2884 posts
@Grace: Yeah, I truly am a cyborg now! I don’t think I could get another epi in the same place, but I think it is standard practice to put it between 3 and 4 so I’ll have to remember to tell them not to do it if I ever have another one! My anesthesiologist actually told me that if he had understood how far along I was, that he would never have done a cath to begin with! Because I was nearly done by the time we had the epi placed. The numbing shot took a lot of the edge off the contractions; the worst part was having to sit in that position (I swear my toes going cold was the worst part. My labor went super fast this time around (first time I needed pit, so this was very surprising to me!), and with a third (if that ever happens) I think I would be a lot more open to just seeing what happened naturally!
guest
Please take no offense, but why, if you get pregnant again, wouldn’t you opt for a non-medicated birth?! No risk.
GOLD / nectarine / 2884 posts
@Jennifer: No offense taken! I think I would consider/am considering it, although it would be difficult for me to say no because the risk of another shear seems unlikely and because, shear aside, both of my epidurals were awesome. With my first it was so well balanced that I felt intense pressure and desire to push, and could feel his body when I delivered him. With my second, I really only got to benefit from it when I was pushing, but also no risk of cascading interventions, fear of c/s, etc., since I waited so long. I did get to experience a lot of natural labor this time, which did convince me that it would not be impossible for me to do, but at the same time confirmed my suspicions that labor is pretty darn painful!
blogger / pear / 1563 posts
OH my goodness! I’ve definitely never heard of this before! I’m glad it doesn’t seem to have a long term impact, but that it so wild! Sorry you had to go through that surgery though.
But you are right that that precious, healthy baby is totally worth it. 
blogger / kiwi / 675 posts
Oh my goodness! What a crazy scenario! I had a bad epidural with my second, It felt like a crazy shot to the back very different feeling than my first and I had pain there for 6 months!!! I am glad you guys are doing well now, Congrats on your LO! So adorbs!
guest
I had an epidural complication with my second birth. I ended up with a spinal headache for a couple weeks. Worst pain of my life, I could barely see straight and had to lay down constantly. It also gave me severe anxiety. I thought there could be no worse epidural complication, but you may have me beat!
guest
This is why 100% natural is the way to go. Way less risky. I happily will deal with the pain for a couple hours to not have to worry about complications that are complety avoidable.