What's The Epidural Needle Like? Does It Hurt?

Of course it hurts. A local anesthetic is injected into the epidural space, blocking the spinal nerve roots and temporarily paralyzing their innervating areas. The epidural space does not communicate with the cranial cavity, and the fluid does not spread to the brain tissue. The dose required for epidural anesthesia is 5~10 times larger than that for subarachnoid anesthesia. If accidentally injected into the subarachnoid space, it can cause general spinal anesthesia, respiratory and cardiac arrest. The absorption of adrenaline was slowed down and the action time was prolonged by adding proper amount of adrenaline into local anesthetics.