sodium chloride (Baxter International Inc.)

Epidural saline refers to the administration of a sterile 0.9% sodium chloride solution into the epidural space. While frequently utilized as a placebo or control in clinical trials for neuraxial analgesia, it serves several active therapeutic, diagnostic, and procedural roles in anesthesiology and neurology. In combined spinal-epidural anesthesia (CSEA), it is used for Epidural Volume Extension (EVE) to rapidly increase the cephalad spread of intrathecal local anesthetics, thereby accelerating the onset of sensory blockade. It is also a critical intervention for managing spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) and post-dural puncture headaches (PDPH); in these contexts, continuous epidural saline infusion (CESI) or bolus injections increase epidural pressure, which helps to restore intracranial pressure and may facilitate the sealing of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks. Furthermore, epidural saline is used for irrigation to treat spinal epidural empyema, as a diagnostic infusion test for SIH, and to maintain the patency of epidural catheters by preventing the formation of clots or tissue plugs.

Other names

normal saline0.9% sodium chloridephysiologic salinesalineepidural saline