Patent ID: 9539415
Date: 2017-01-10
CPC Classifications: A61B,A61M,Y10T

Claim:
1. A method of inserting an epidural catheter having a bent distal end into a patient, the method comprising: providing an epidural catheter assembly to an end user in an unbent state comprising: inserting a stylet at least partially into the catheter assembly; after inserting the stylet at least partially into the catheter assembly, bending, by the end user, at least a portion of the catheter assembly at the first bend indicator or at the second bend indicator; and after bending the at least a portion of the catheter assembly and plastically deforming the stylet within the catheter assembly, inserting, by the end user, the at least a portion of the catheter assembly into the patient into the cervical or upper thoracic region of the patient's spine for administration of an analgesic if the catheter assembly was bent at the first bend indicator or into the lumbar or sacral region of the patent's spine for administration of the analgesic if the catheter assembly was bent at the second bend indicator.