Pediatric epidural anesthesia has emerged as a safe and effective regional anesthesia technique for providing intraoperative and postoperative analgesia in thoracic and abdominal surgery. The loss of resistance technique is the gold standard for the placement of the epidural.

The VPC (visual pressure control) syringes developed by PAJUNK enable direct visualization of the introduction of the needle into the epidural space.

This trial is a non blinded, pilot study. A minimum of 15 children between the ages of 0 and 16 who require surgery that may benefit from epidural anesthesia will be enrolled.

The number of attempts, the complications (dural and vascular punctures, neurological complications) and the degree of satisfaction of the operator measured by a 7-point likert scale will be studied as secondary objectives.

Inclusion Criteria:

• children aged from 0 to 16y
• surgical procedure that can benefit from a lumbar or low thoracic epidural anesthesia

Exclusion Criteria:

• parental refusal
• allergy to local anesthetics
• coagulation disorders
• spine abnormalities