Epidural Anesthesia Research Paper

The anesthetiser jar with cork containing the cotton wool was sealed and left for fifteen minutes

Learning about the potential complications of epidural reinforced my knowledge in being able to choose the right anaesthetic monitoring equipment. Knowing that Spinal and epidural anaesthesia can cause unpredictable and profound arterial hypotension necessitate the use of adequate monitoring like the; Pulse oximetry, ECG and Blood pressure cuff. This knowledge will help me to be able to select appropriate monitoring devices during epidural catheter insertion. Also it goes without saying that an epidural must be performed in a work area that is equipped for airway management and resuscitation.

The college I would go to would be University of Tennessee (UT). UT offers students a major in anesthesiology.

This is the biggest benefit. An epidural alleviates pain in the lower body, without affecting your mental state. This helps to make you calmer since you won't be too anxious or stressed about labor pain.

For a few years now I have been very interested in anesthesiology. When my sister had my niece, I watched as they gave her the epidural, I became very intrigued with this career.I am going to write in my research paper what exactly they do, how to become one, the risks, and the importance. In my project I am going to show where you must inject the anesthesia, and again bring up the

A study conducted from 1997 to 2006 shows an increase of Medicare patients receiving an epidural of one hundred and two percent per 100,000 people (Manchikanti). Epidurals allow the blockade of discomfort in a specific area with an injection of an anesthetic directly into the epidural space, located along the spinal column just below the spinal cord; however, the goal of this administration route is not to eliminate total lack of feeling but to provide the patient with relief from strain so they may continue their activities of daily living. Pain, the body’s number one defense mechanism, transmits signals through nerves to the final destination of the brain. By blocking irritated nerve signals with an epidural, the mind and body can relax. Narcotics, an alternative option for uneasiness, only last for a limited amount of time and require frequent administration, while epidurals possess a longer mechanism of action and only require a one-time injection. Therefore, it remains as the primary line of method of pain alleviation for labor. Epidurals provide effective pain relief for expectant mothers without causing harm to her or the newborn baby, which has, caused a dramatic increase in the popularity of epidurals over the past decade.

I picked this article because I am curious on what the side effects of an epidural are because of I’ve always known about the pros of Epidurals and how it is a successful pain reliever. An epidural makes the person so numb that it's hard to contract and push adequately and this makes the labor longer. With the labor process increasing it leads to cesarean which has more side effects and the recovering time longer than natural birth which impacts the mother and baby bond for the first couple days. a study that was done with women babies for the first time during the second phase stage of labor was much longer coming at 336 minutes with an epidural. Women that choose natural birth had 197 minutes of labor this was a difference of 2 hours and

According to the American Pregnancy organization “more than 50% of woman giving birth at hospitals use Epidural Anesthesia”. These women turn to epidural to relieve the pain of labor; however this decision poses many risks to both mother and child. An epidural is a type of regional anesthesia where pain medication is administered to the lumbar and sacral region of the back near clusters of nerves. The placement allows for nerve impulses to be blocked from the lower regions of the body resulting in decreased sensations. Although the epidural is known for taking pain away it could very well cause it too. Epidurals include the use of various narcotics and have side effects like hypotension, fever, fetal malposition, decreased fetal heart rate, respiratory depression, breastfeeding complications, an increased likelihood of operative vaginal delivery and cesarean and many more. These are the effects faced in result to a procedure that is not definite to work. In Fact “One in every 8 women” (OAA) will experience inadequate pain relief and must venture to other means of medication. Therefore, mothers should abstain from epidural anesthesia due to the risks it poses to themselves and to the fetus.

Morphine is a prescription drug that is used to treat moderate to severe pain. An epidural used to reduce pain during a pregnancy by inserting a needle in the back of the derma mater, derma mater means skin. The epidural is placed in the back of the mid back, in the spine is the spinal epidural. Inserting the epidural in the mid back, it causes the lower limb to go numb. When the lower limbs go numb, the women can’t feel

Anencephaly is a birth defect that happens while your baby is developing. Anencephaly causes your baby to be missing parts of the brain, scalp, and skull when he or she is born. Anencephaly is a very serious type of neural tube defect (NTD). Most babies born with anencephaly only live for a short amount of time.

Childbirth is the action of giving birth to a child, it is a process which includes stages such as, the dilation of the cervix, emergence of the baby, then the placenta being expelled. In fact, the mother gets to choose rather or not she has a natural child birth. The mother’s options include, a non-medicated, or a medicated childbirth, in which the mother is prescribed epidural. However, in some instances the mother does not get to choose if she is prescribed with epidural. For example, if the baby is coming sooner than the doctor expected that leads to an emergency birth or if the mother is under eighteen, then the mother may have to give birth unmediated. Epidural is a powerful drug, so any mother under the age of eighteen would need a form

Spinal anaesthesia is a safe and effective alternative to general anaesthesia when the surgical site is located on the lower extremities, perineum and lower abdominal region. It has got the advantage of being, cost-effective, easy administration technique, rapid onset of action, with relatively less adverse effects and most importantly patient remaining aroused throughout the procedure1-2. Surgical procedure that is often performed under general anesthesia have side such as postoperative nausea and vomiting, short-term cognitive impairment, prolonged sedation and early postoperative pain may be undesirable in outpatients, elderly and cardiovascular compromised patients3.

Epidural anesthesia is the most popular method of pain relief during labor. More women request an epidural than any other method of pain relief. More women giving birth use epidural anesthesia. The purpose of an epidural is to stipulate numbness and relief of pain. Epidurals restrict nerve impulses from the lower spine.

There is general, regional and local anesthesia. In general anesthesia, one is unconscious and has no awareness or other feelings. There are a number of general anesthetic drugs such as gases or vapors inhaled through a breathing mask or tube and medications introduced through an IV. In regional anesthesia, the anesthesiologist makes and injection near a cluster of nerves to numb the area of the body that requires surgery. The patient may stay awake, or may be given a sedative, either way they do not see or feel the actual surgery taking place. There are several kinds of regional anesthetics. The two most common are spinal anesthesia and epidural anesthesia. In local anesthesia, the anesthetic drug is usually injected into the tissue to numb just the specific location of the body requiring minor surgery. No matter what anesthetic is received the patient will not have feeling during the surgery.

Childbirth is a beautiful thing. After the hours of labor, there is nothing more special than having the newly mother able to hold her child the minute after it’s born. It makes the pain that you had just experienced go away because all that matters in the world is that newborn child in your arms. During labor, every woman has her own experience but one common experience is the pain. According to Kitzinger (1978) “Labor pain can have negative or positive meaning, depending on whether the child is wanted, the interaction of the laboring woman with those attending her, her sense of ease or dis-ease in the environment provided for birth, her relationship with the father of her child and her attitude to her body throughout the reproductive