Epidurals are a method of long-term pain relief administered by injecting and continuously delivering an anesthetic via catheter in the spine. This method of pain relief is often used for patients in the Obstetrics/Gynecology unit as well as those in pre- and post-operational care. For almost 2 million singleton vaginal deliveries across 27 states in 2008 (representing 65% of all US singleton vaginal births in 2008), 61% of patients received some form of an epidural or spinal injection [1]. Additionally, this number has been increasing. For the 18 states for which 2006 and 2008 data are available, the average of the state-level increases in epidural/spinal injections is approximately 4.2% revealing an overall increase in these injections. Just between 2000 and 2010, the use of epidural injections increased by 160% [2]. Commonly, epidural catheters are inserted into the patient's back in the appropriate location and then secured to the body with an adhesive medical dressing.
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