How is the epidural catheter put in?
• A temporary (short-term) catheter can be put in your back in the operating room or in your bed in the hospital. It may also be inserted in your caregiverʼs office. You will lie curled up on your side or in a sitting position on the side of the bed. The skin on your back is washed and then numbed with medicine to decrease feeling and pain. A needle is put in between 2 bones in your back. A very thin plastic tube (like a fishing line) called a “catheter” is threaded through the needle. The catheter puts medicine into the epidural space. With a temporary epidural, the catheter is taped to the skin on your back and shoulder. • You will go to the operating room to have a permanent (long-term) catheter placed in your back. You may be given medicine to make you go to sleep while the catheter is put in. The permanent epidural catheter comes out of a small incision (cut) on your side or on the front of your body near your belly button. This is called the “exit site”. You will also have small
