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Anesthesiology/Disc herniation and Delivery

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Expert: - 2/1/2010


Question
Hi Doc,
I had disc herniationL5-S1 after the normal birth of my first child.Its been 7 yrs.Now I am daring for another child.I am 7 month by far.My concern is whether to go for epidural and normal delivery or not?Please tell me what is right for me.

Answer
An epidural anesthetic itself is not contraindicated in the presence of a herniated disc. i.e. there is no mechanism for a previous disc "issue" to recur as a result of placing a new epidural.  If you had your prior disc problem settled with surgery, the scar tissue about your spine may make it impossible to place the epidural properly to achieve adequate labor analgesia, however. Discuss with your anesthesiologist well in advance!

Anesthesiology

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JM Starkman, MD

Experience

Over twenty-five years of adult and pediatric, inpatient and outpatient clinical anesthesia practice--some private, some group.

Organizations
American Association of Physicians and Surgeons. My county medical society.

Publications
[not a researcher]

Education/Credentials
American medical school graduate. Board Certified. Fellowship trained Cardiovascular and Pediatric anesthesia subspecialist.

Past/Present Clients
Over 20,000 anesthetics, the majority of which have been personally managed, with less than 5% consisting of supervising nurse anesthetists or in-training resident physicians.

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