How often do epidurals fail?

By Anonymous July 2, 2014 - 6:28pm

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I don't mean just the anesthesiologist has to replace it in a few minutes, but just it never provides analgesia or only spotty analgesia--if that's because the anesthesiologist never makes it back or it can't be corrected. I've seen probabilities anywhere from 1% to 15%. Does anyone have an accurate idea of this?

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Anonymous

Hi Anon,

Welcome to EmpowHER. Some of the reasons why an epidural sometimes fail includes incorrect primary placement, the migration of a catheter after correct placement and the suboptimal dosing of local anesthetic drugs. Some research have shown that very little percentage of women will have problems with an epidural. Hope this has helped.

Best,

Daisy

July 4, 2014 - 5:06am

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