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Background and Aims 3D software technology has been utilized in various medical fields by enabling the creation of reliable models with excellent details for both normal and pathological anatomy. The aim of this study is to compare our conventional epidural/spinal anesthesia practices with the preoperative personalized real-sized 3D modeling obtained in a group of patients where difficult neuraxial anesthesia application is anticipated during preoperative anesthesia examination.

Methods Approval was received from the Ege University medical research ethics committee.(19-10.1T/63-2019) Twenty patients over the age of 18, who were anticipated to have difficult neuraxial intervention due to ankylosing spondylitis or operated lumbar disc herniation, and had completed preoperative radiological examinations were included in the study, and archive CT images were evaluated. The cases were divided into 2 groups, one group (Group N) (n=10) received anesthesia without using a model, and in the other group (Group D) (n=10), personalized 3D models obtained from the images were used before and during anesthesia.

Results Successful anesthesia application was achieved in 100% of cases where 3D models were used, whereas this rate was 80% in cases where models were not used. The success rate in the first attempt was 80% in cases where 3D models were used, while it was 20% in cases where models were not used.

Conclusions We concluded that 3D modeling increases the success of anesthesia application in cases where difficult neuraxial anesthesia is anticipated while potentially reducing the risk of complications due to multiple attempts.