1 Enliven Archive | www.enlivenarchive.org 2015 | Volume 2 | Issue 6 Comparison of the Use of Epidrum ® with Air or Saline for Identifying the Epidural Space ISSN:2374-4448 * Corresponding author: Seyi Kartal, Department of Anesthesiology, Faculty of Medicine, Turgut Ozal University, Ankara, Turkey, Alparslan Turkes Street, No: 57, 06520 Yenimahalle-Ankara-Turkey, Tel. +90 3122035180/2035861; Fax: +90 3122035029; E-mail: drseyikartal@gmail.com Citation: Kartal S, Kilinç H, Muslu B, Karabayirli S, Kösem B, et al. (2015) Comparison of the Use of Epidrum® with Air or Saline for Identifying the Epidural Space. Enliven: J Anesthesiol Crit Care Med 2(6): 018. Copyright: @ 2015 Dr. Seyi Kartal. This is an Open Access article published and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Received Date: 20th February 2015 Accepted Date: 20th April 2015 Published Date: 24th April 2015 Original Article Enliven: Journal of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine Seyi Kartal 1* , Hatice Kilinç 1 , Bünyamin Muslu1, Sainaz Karabayirli 1 , Bahadir Kösem 1 , Murat Uygun 2 , Azra Özanbarci 1 , and Muhammet Gözdemir 1 1 Department of Anesthesiology, Faculty of Medicine, Turgut Ozal University, Ankara, Turkey 2 Department of Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Turgut Ozal University, Ankara, Turkey www.enlivenarchive.org Abstract Background Identiication of the epidural space has a critical role in epidural anesthesia. Epidrum ® has been a recently developed air operated device used for identifying the epidural space. This study compares the usage of Epidrum ® with saline or air to identify epidural space in performing epidural or combined spinal-epidural(CSE) anesthesia; by paying attention to the ease and duration of the application process, certainty of epidural space distinction, and possible complications. Methods Sixty ASA I or II patients between the ages of 18 and 60 years old scheduled for elective gynecologic, orthopedic or hip surgery under CSE anesthesia were enrolled in this study. The patients were randomly assigned to two groups: either, Epidrum ® was used with air (Group A) (n=30) or with saline (Group S) (n=30). Results No signiicant differences were noted between the two groups in terms of the time taken to determine the epidural space or the number of attempts required to ind it. Delation time in Group A was statistically shorter than Group S (p=0.024). It was reported that Epidrum ® usage with air was easier to apply (73% vs. 30%), and discrimination of the epidural space was more signiicant (63% vs. 13%) compared to saline (p=0.001 in both groups). No complications were recorded in both groups. Conclusion Despite more signiicant discrimination of the epidural space, shorter delation time and ease of application of Epidrum ® use with air versus saline, saline could be also used successfully in consideration of possible complications with air. Keywords: Epidrum ® ; Saline; Air; Epidural anesthesia