1 Various types of epidural kits are available based on the techniques that can be used to identify the epidural space. It is very challenging to deliver the medical services to poor Indian population in rural area with available facilities. To make it cost effective, sterile epidural catheters and sterile needles are separately available in the market. The only disadvantage is the non- availability of bacterial filter. The most common way to keep the epidural hub is to wrap under a sterile plastic packet provided in the kit or to keep in sterile pads. However sometimes the plastic cover may get torn or may get soiled and may become prone to the infection. Use of sterile pad is not fully user friendly as it has to be opened and closed every time with proper positioning of the catheter in the pad itself. Thus we came with a simple and cost effective method to keep the epidural hub sterile after the placement.
A 5 or 10ml sterile syringe is used in this technique and an epidural catheter end is passed after removing piston of syringe (Non patient end).The connector is placed and catheter is put back into the syringe (Figure 1). The piston is placed over it and can be sealed. With aseptic precautions, epidural hub is dropped out of the syringe during top up, thereby reducing the chance of infection.1 This technique has an added advantage as the syringes are transparent, cheap thus can be replaced in case of soiling or damage.
