On Wednesday night on "The Inventors" (ABC TV) , a new teaching aid
for training doctors to insert epidurals was demonstrated. It was
very sophisticated, using real time computer graphics that said
"ouch" when the needle was wrongly placed and a graphical display
that showed the operator exactly what they were doing.
The inventor didn't appear to be a doctor and was quite candid about
the use of epidurals for labour. He explained it was a risky
procedure and said that until now, most training was done using
oranges or latex foam blocks to simulate the "feel" of inserting the
needle into the epidural space! He also mentioned that doctors
practised like this for only 6 - 8 times before moving on to
practicing on patients!
I was hoping that lots of pregnant women saw this segment as it would
have opened their eyes to the delicacy of this procedure and the
potential for problems (piercing the spinal cord was mentioned,
spinal headaches etc). This invention won on the night and I
applauded too - anything that enabled an anaesthetist to get the
necessary skill before being let loose on patients/women would be a
huge advance.
Andrea
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