What are the newest developments in epidural anesthesia?
Theres been a trend over the years towards lower doses of medications. An epidural today contains approximately one-tenth the amount of medication that one may have received 20 years ago. With older epidurals, your legs felt almost totally numb. Now almost all patients can feel and move their legs, and they experience contractions as a tightening or slight ache. Women today can be much more involved in the experience, which is an important psychological advantage. In addition, many epidurals now are patient-controlled. This means the woman herself is able to control the precise amount of medication administered by using a button attached to the epidural pump. This allows for flexibility and individualized pain relief, and studies show that allowing patients to control their own medication administration is safe, and generally results in less total amount of drug being used compared to older epidural methods.
