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Patients shouldn鈥檛 feel discouraged from asking for epidural amid shortage, doctor says

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While a global shortage of epidural catheters has reached some provinces in Canada, a Toronto doctor says this shouldn鈥檛 discourage patients in Ontario from asking for one if they need it during their hospital visits.

Dr. Tali Bogler, Chair of Family Medicine Obstetrics at St. Michael鈥檚 Hospital, says the shortage has caused more work for hospitals to share supplies, but she hasn鈥檛 had to turn away a patient for requesting the treatment.

鈥淲e're actually OK at a provincial level here in Ontario in terms of our supply,鈥 Bogler told CTV鈥檚 Your Morning on Friday.

鈥淚f hospitals are running out (of epidural catheters), they're being encouraged to contact their Ontario Health regional contact to facilitate sharing between hospitals, which has happened, and to support escalation with other suppliers.鈥

Supply chain issues in recent months have been the main cause of the shortage that has also affected British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Ontario Health reported 16 per cent of hospitals had less than a week鈥檚 worth of epidural catchers on Aug. 17.

An epidural catheter is a tube used to inject anesthetic into the spine of a patient. Though the treatment is often associated with pregnant people, they are also used for hip, knee and gynecological surgeries.

Bogler says patients shouldn鈥檛 feel discouraged from asking for an epidural and recommends checking in with their health- care provider first if they have any doubts regarding supply at their local hospital.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e your best advocate and I really do encourage patients, even before they come into hospital for labour and delivery, to talk to their health-care provider or even call their hospital about their delivery to ask what the situation is like,鈥 she said.

It鈥檚 also best practice for pregnant patients to ask for an epidural as soon as possible, Bogler said, as most patients tend to wait for their pain to get worse during labour before making a request.

鈥淪ometimes people wait a little bit to see if the pain becomes a bit worse and then request it,鈥 she said. 鈥淩equest it if you're thinking about it, don't wait.鈥

In cases where patients are waiting for an epidural, Bogler said there are other options including opiates, laughing gas and local anesthetic that can be provided.  

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