Ask The Experts
Hello, my girlfriend had liver surgery in which they administered an epidural. This had complications which required a blood patch which did not happen until days later. One of the side effects it seems is some kind of soft, fluid like lump in the arch of her foot. Could this somehow be spinal fluid that had leaked and collected in her foot? Or could this be some other side effect from that? No issues until after epidural. She has lots of pain walking. Thank you for your time.
Thank you for contacting us. IPFH cannot diagnose or recommend treatments on line. We are not aware of such a foot complication from using an epidural or spinal block for surgery. The National Library of Medicine has some information on the risks of this type of anesthesia, but none of the possible complications mentioned is similar to that of your girlfriend: https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007413.htm. We would suggest that she contact her primary care doctor and let him or her know about the lump and the pain and see if it can be resolved. Another option would be to consult with the surgeon who performed her operation, and/or the anesthesiologist who administered the epidural to see if they can shed some light (this could be done with the coordination of the primary care doctor). Alternatively, because the pain and the lump seem to be localized to her foot, you might consult a podiatrist or other foot health professional. Because the pain you describe seems to be interfering with her normal activities, we would recommend that she consult a medical professional at her earliest opportunity. Whatever option she chooses, we hope she is otherwise healing well from the surgery, and that her foot condition will soon be resolved.