Abdominal circumference but not the degree of lumbar flexion affects the accuracy of lumbar interspace identification by Tuffier’s line palpation method: an observational study

摘要

BackgroundLumbar puncture for spinal or epidural anesthesia is commonly performed by palpating bony landmarks, but identification of the desired intervertebral level is often inaccurate. It is unclear whether such inaccuracy is related to patient factors, such as body mass index and degree of lumbar flexion. We hypothesized that overweight patients and patients with less of an ability to hyperflex their lumbar spines are prone to inaccurate lumbar spinous intervertebral level identification.