What is "intrathecal?" (sp) for pain management in child birth?

Answer 1

~~Intrathecal Injection of Narcotics
An intrathecal injection of narcotics is a type of spinal - only less strong. It is given in one injection in the lower back. With an intrathecal you maintain minimal feeling in the lower half of the body but are numb enough to have pain relief. Possible side effects are itching and nausea and vomiting.~~

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~~Intrathecal drug delivery, or “pain pump,” is a method of giving medication directly to your spinal cord. The system uses a small pump that is surgically placed under the skin of your abdomen and delivers medication (morphine or baclofen) through a catheter directly to the area around your spinal cord. Similar to an epidural that women may have during childbirth, this pain management option may be used if all other traditional methods have failed to relieve your long-term symptoms. Because the medication is delivered directly to the spinal cord, your symptoms can be controlled with a much smaller dose than is needed with oral medication.

What is an intrathecal drug pump?

The fluid filled space around your spinal cord is called the subarachnoid or intrathecal space. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flows through this area, bathing and protecting your brain and spinal cord. Intrathecal drug delivery works much more efficiently than oral medication because it delivers medicine directly into the CSF, bypassing the path that oral medication takes through your body. In fact, you generally need about 1/300 the amount of medication (morphine or baclofen) than when taking it orally. This therapy is completely reversible if you should ever decide to have the pump removed.

The pump system

The pump is a round metal device about the size of a hockey puck that is surgically implanted just beneath the skin of your abdomen. A catheter, or small plastic tube attached to the pump is also surgically placed and delivers pain medication directly into the intrathecal space (Fig. 1).

A space inside the pump called the reservoir holds the medication. When the reservoir is empty, the doctor or nurse refills the pump by inserting a needle through your skin and into the fill port on top of the reservoir.

Your doctor uses an external computer-like device to program the pump to slowly release the medication over a period of time. The pump also can be programmed to release different amounts of medication at different times of the day, depending on your changing needs. The pump stores the information about your prescription in its memory, and your doctor can easily review this information with the programmer.~~

Answer 2

it is a needle that they insert in your back (spinal) that they use to give you doses of medication as you need it, and sometimes will be able to numb your back if a Cesarean is needed.

Answer 3

YAY DRUGS