• Christof Birkenmaier, Julia Redeker, Birte Sievers, Carolin Melcher, Volkmar Jansson, and Susanne Mayer-Wagner.
• Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Grosshadern Medical Center, University of Munich, Marchioninistr., Munich, Germany. christof.birkenmaier@med.uni-muenchen.de
• Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2011 Mar 1;36(2):140-4.

Background And ObjectivesEpidural injections are popular therapies for sciatica and low back pain. Local anesthetics and corticosteroids are commonly used for most injections techniques, but some treatments use a specific combination of several agents. The epidural lysis of adhesions procedure (Racz) uses a combination of bupivacaine, hyaluronidase, a corticosteroid, and hypertonic saline. Because severe complications, some with permanent neurologic deficits, have been observed, we considered the possibility that individual agents or a combination thereof might be capable of damaging or destroying cells in primarily the epidural tissues.MethodsWe used monolayer cell cultures of human fibroblasts in Dulbecco modified Eagle medium to study these pharmacological agents alone or in combination. Cell viability and proliferation were assessed by Trypan blue staining, cell counts, and the WST-1 assay. Time and concentration series were performed.ResultsWith the corticosteroid, we observed the previously described proliferation-retarding effects. Hyaluronidase was not found to have a relevant effect on fibroblast proliferation. Bupivacaine and hypertonic saline were found to have a time- and concentration-dependent effect on cell viability and proliferation. Both were found to be toxic at concentrations well below the ones used clinically.ConclusionsWe identified a potential for harm caused by commonly used pharmacological agents when applied epidurally. Animal studies will have to show whether the same can be observed in living tissues.Copyright © 2011 by American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine

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