This paper presents an automatic lumbar spine level identification system based on image processing of ultrasound images. The goal is to aid anesthetists in identifying the correct spinal level during epidural anesthesia. Spine level identification is initiated by detecting the location of the sacrum using a classifier based on a support vector machine. Image stitching is then conducted to produce a panorama image of the spinal area. During this process, the location of spinal processes are enhanced using a Gabor filter and detected through template matching. The locations of the spinal processes are tracked and used as an overlay on the ultrasound image in real-time. The system then informs the anesthetists when the correct spinal level has been reached. The system was evaluated on forty volunteers by two anesthetists with varying experience level and was able to detect the correct position of the L3-L4 spinal level in all of the volunteers. The average time taken to produce the location of the L3-L4 spinal level was 30.92 seconds. The results show that the system can quickly and accurately detect the location of the target spinal level.

BackgroundWe investigated the possible risk factors that could influence the likelihood of breastfeeding at 5 to 9 weeks postpartum with our primary aim being to analyse the associations between psychological vulnerabilities, such as peripartum depression and anxiety, and continued breastfeeding. Our secondary aim was to investigate other non-psychological factors’ influence on continued breastfeeding.MethodsA prospective cohort study was conducted in KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Singapore. Healthy nulliparous parturients at ≥36 weeks gestation with a singleton fetus who received epidural analgesia were recruited. Demographic and anaesthetic data were obtained. Self-reported psychological and pain determinants such as anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), depression (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale), stress (Perceived Stress Scale), pain susceptibility (Pain Catastrophizing Scale) and pain perception (McGill Pain Questionnaire) were also recorded at baseline. A phone interview was then performed at 5 to 9 weeks postpartum to obtain information on breastfeeding status.Results329 participants were included into this study, of which 263 (79.9%) of them were still breastfeeding at 5 weeks postpartum. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that a higher State-Trait Anxiety Inventory score (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] 0.97; 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 0.94, 1.00) at baseline, higher intrapartum blood loss (AOR 0.76; 95% CI 0.61, 0.93), and occurrence of fetal anomalies (AOR 0.15; 95% CI 0.03, 0.72) were associated with reduced likelihood of breastfeeding at 5 to 9 weeks postpartum. Indians (AOR 0.56; 95% CI 0.20, 1.53), Malays (AOR 0.30; 95% CI 0.14, 0.62) and other ethnicities (AOR 0.36; 95% CI 0.16, 0.83) were less likely to continue breastfeeding compared to Chinese participants. On the other hand, receiving any support services on breastfeeding during the participants’ hospital stay was 3.3 times more likely (AOR 3.30; 95% CI 1.21, 9.02) to increase the likelihood of breastfeeding at 5 to 9 weeks postpartum.ConclusionWe identified 5 independent association factors that could have significant influences on breastfeeding at 5 to 9 weeks postpartum. Healthcare providers could utilize this risk stratification to identify parturients likely to have poorer breastfeeding outcomes and undertake interventions that may help safeguard optimization of breastfeeding outcomes and parturient care.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov NCT02278601. Registered 26 October 2014.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13006-018-0184-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Presacral masses are rare lesions and due to obscure anatomic location and etiological heterogeneity, they pose a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Literature is limited on the pain management of a parturient with presacral mass. We describe here a parturient in her second trimester with severe pain from a presacral mass. A high clinical acumen with early multidisciplinary involvement are needed to establish a diagnosis and provide treatment options for the well-being of the patient, minimize fetal teratogenicity, avoid chronic symptoms and long-term disability.

A case of brachial plexus neuropraxia occurring during CT-guided radiofrequency ablation is reported in a patient with a narrow costoclavicular space. We discuss clinical methods of identifying patients with a narrow costoclavicular space who are at risk of position-related injury of the brachial plexus during anaesthesia. Identifying high risk patients and proper positioning during anaesthesia are hallmarks of preventing such injuries.