Carlo Pancaro, Jasmine Purtell, Dana LaBuda, Leif Saager, Thomas T Klumpner, Timur Dubovoy, Baskar Rajala, Shubhangi Singh, Ruth Cassidy, Christie Vahabzadeh, Sean Maxwell, Virgil Manica, David M Eckmann, Jill M Mhyre, Milo C Engoren
BACKGROUND: While flexible epidural catheters reduce the risk of paresthesia and intravascular cannulation, they may be more challenging to advance beyond the tip of a Tuohy needle. This may increase placement time, number of attempts, and possibly complications when establishing labor analgesia. This study investigated the ability to advance flexible epidural catheters through different epidural needles from 2 commonly used, commercially available, epidural kits. METHODS: We hypothesized that the multiorifice wire-reinforced polyamide nylon blend epidural catheters will have a higher rate of successful first attempt insertion than the single-end hole wire-reinforced polyurethane catheters for the establishment of labor analgesia...
July 1, 2021: Anesthesia and Analgesia