{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T09:28:21Z","timestamp":1785403701648,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,8]],"date-time":"2026-04-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1775606400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004242","name":"Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["PNURSP2026R850"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PNURSP2026R850"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004242","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["PNURSP2026R850"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PNURSP2026R850"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05b0cyh02","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Tomography"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Epidural procedures benefit from a pre-procedural informed estimation of epidural depth, as anticipating the approximate distance can support safer needle placement and reduce technical difficulties during analgesia or anesthesia procedures. The influence of ethnicity has been established across different populations worldwide; however, there is a lack of Saudi-specific MRI data on epidural depth among the adult population. Aim of this Study: To measure the skin to epidural space distance (SED) at the lumbar interspaces L3\u2013L4 and L4\u2013L5 in the Saudi adult population using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and to examine its correlations with age, sex, height, weight, and body mass index (BMI). Methods: In this retrospective cross-sectional study, sagittal T1-weighted lumbar MRI images of the spine of 169 adult Saudi patients were studied. The age group ranged from 20 to 70 years, with an equal distribution of males and females. The skin to epidural space distance (SED) was measured at the L3\u2013L4 and L4\u2013L5 interspaces, and its correlations with age, sex, height, weight, and BMI were analyzed. Results: The average measurement of skin to epidural space distance (SED) was 59.08 mm in L3\u2013L4, and 63.21 in L4\u2013L5. BMI and weight showed strong positive correlations with SED across both levels. Female sex was associated with longer SED values at L4\u2013L5. There was no significant correlation between SED and age or height of the patients. Conclusions: MRI-based assessment of SED revealed strong correlations with weight and BMI, but no correlation with height, age, and sex. These findings support the individualized estimation of epidural depth and needle length selection to enhance procedural safety and reduce complications.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/tomography12040053","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,8]],"date-time":"2026-04-08T07:25:12Z","timestamp":1775633112000},"page":"53","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["MRI-Based Evaluation of Lumbar Epidural Space Depth and Its Correlation with Anthropometric Factors in Saudi Adults"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Ilhaam","family":"Alsaati","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Basic Sciences, College of Medicine, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3211-7759","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Khaleel","family":"Alyahya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mohammed","family":"Alharbi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz University Hospital, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2895-2284","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zuhal Y.","family":"Hamd","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiological Sciences, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shaden","family":"Alhegail","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz University Hospital, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"877","DOI":"10.1007\/s40263-022-00936-y","article-title":"The Options for Neuraxial Drug Administration","volume":"36","author":"Hermanns","year":"2022","journal-title":"CNS Drugs"},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Adrian, N., Hernandez, A., and Hendrix, J. (2025, August 23). 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