Monitoring during the infusion
While your child has an epidural infusion, the nurses will watch for any problems. The nurses will check your child's blood pressure and heart rate. Your child's movement and feeling to parts of the body affected by the medicine in the epidural infusion will also be monitored. The nurses will also check the area on your child's back where the catheter is.
While the epidural infusion is in place, your child’s nurses will help your child to turn from side to side in bed, sit up and move. Often, children with epidurals can walk and move around their room. Your child will also be on a heart and breathing rate monitor to watch for any side effects.
Checking and adjusting for pain
Your child's nurse will regularly ask your child how well the medicine is working. Your child may feel some pain.
If your child has pain, the doctor may increase the amount of medicine for the pain or change the type of medicine that your child gets. The doctor may also give medicine by mouth (orally) in addition to the epidural infusion.
Your child may have the epidural infusion for a few days
Epidural infusions are usually given for one to five days. The length of time will depend on the type of operation and the amount of pain that your child has.
When it is time to take out the catheter, it will be gently pulled out. It does not hurt to remove the catheter. Some children may not like the dressing tape being gently removed from around the catheter.
Your child will then get pain medicine through the existing intravenous (IV) line or as a pill or liquid that they can swallow. An IV is a small tube that is put into a vein in your child's arm or leg to give medicine or fluids.