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Postdural puncture headache is the most common complication of subarachnoid regional anesthesia. The incidence of postdural puncture headache is influenced by sex and age of the patient, by the size of the needle used, as well as by several other factors the importance and influence of which are still controversial. The aims of this study were to determine the frequency of postural puncture headache following subarachnoid anesthesia at the Institute of Anaestesiology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, to determine the influence of age and sex of the patients on the incidence of postdural puncture headache, and to identify other complications associated with subarachnoid anesthesia. Three hundred traumatologic, urologic and orthopaedic patients submitted to preoperative subarachnoid anesthesia were interviewed. Basic data were provided by special anaesthesiologic forms filled in before and during the operation. The incidence of postural puncture headache was 5.3%; it ranged from 1.8% at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, to 3.4% at the Department of Urology and 9.2% at the Department of Traumatology. These figures are small as compared to those in the literature. In our opinion, this low incidence is due to high average age of the patients interviewed, as the incidence of postdural puncture headache is known to decrease with age. A statistically important difference (chi-square test, p < 0,01) in the postdural puncture headache incidence was found between patients under 40 years and those above 40 years of age. Postdural puncture headache occurred more frequently in men than in women, yet the difference in sex was not statistically significant. Other complications of subarachnoid anesthesia incuded urine retention in 4.6% of cases, vomiting in 1% and tinnitus in 1%.