Pump Connection Issues with Epidural Infusion Devices
Published date : 22 February 2014
Article date : 22 February 2014
Editorial Comment from Dr Ian Nesbitt, MBBS, FRCA, DICM(UK), FFICM, Senior Editor: Anaesthesia & Critical Care, Consultant in Anaesthesia & Critical Care, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. No conflict declared.
Pump connection issues experienced with epidural infusion devices have given rise to frequent debate. Here, Dr Ian Nesbitt, a Consultant in Anaesthesia & Critical Care at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne (UK) shares his views on the topic.
"There is still no national consensus regarding connectors, and no-one is holding their breath about it. The co-ordination between manufacturers seems to be weak, and the standards/demands also seem to be rewritten periodically.
The move away from epidurals and diffusion technology is probably more down to changes in surgical techniques (laparoscopic and robotic assisted surgery rather than laparotomy/open procedures). This, rather than any inherrent problem with epidurals is what seems to be the largest change in practice nationally.
There is also a move towards single shot spinal injections instead of infusions, but (as with many things in medicine) the initial encouraging reports may be overly optimistic, so I wouldn't expect epidurals to vanish in the next few years."
Read more on related topics at the British Pain Society website.
