How should I care for patients following the administration of epidural anaesthesia?

THIS ARTICLE WILL TELL YOU ABOUT

• What is epidural analgesia?
• The pros and cons as well as the risks associated with delivering EA
• How EA should be administered and post-administration monitoring

YOU WOULD BE LIKELY TO REFERENCE THIS ARTICLE IF YOU WERE RESEARCHING:

• Post operative pain management
• The frequency of post administration observations, and specifically what to observe
• EA policy uptake

IN WHAT SITUATIONS WILL THIS ARTICLE BE USEFUL FOR ME?

This article is useful in finding out how to care for patients following different stages of being administered epidural anaesthesia, the delivery of analgesia into the epidural space. This is generally administered after operations as it provides better pain relief than intravenous analgesia and has been shown to reduce postoperative complications. The article gives guidance on the observations you should be making and how often these should be taken.

QUESTIONS FOR YOUR MENTOR/TUTOR

• What early warning signs should be used in reviewing frequency of observations?
• Why are these particular observations done?
• What possible complications could occur?

STUDENT NT DECODER

Epidural Anaesthesia
Epidural analgesia is the delivery of analgesia into the epidural space.

Paralytic Ileus
Also known as intestinal obstruction. A partial or complete blockage of the bowel that prevents the contents of the intestine from passing through.

Catabolism
The metabolic breakdown of complex molecules into simpler ones, often resulting in a release of energy.

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