The spinal hematoma, defined as symptomatic bleeding within the spinal neuraxis, is a rare and potentially catastrophic complication of spinal or epidural anesthesia. Spinal hematoma reveals itself with the signs of cord compression. In the case of spinal cord compression, laminectomy seems to be effective in reversing spinal ischemia if performed within the first eight hours. We report a case of epidural hematoma formation after the removal of the lumbar epidural catheter in a patient who underwent total knee replacement surgery and commenced to receive low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) postoperatively for thromboembolic prophylaxis.
Keywords: Epidural hematoma, epidural anesthesia, laminectomy, enoxoparin