Patent ID: 7181289

Claim:
A method of treating a human or animal patient, the method comprising the steps of: providing a catheter device, sized to be placed in an epidural space of a spinal canal of a human or animal patient, the catheter device having a distal region with a pre-formed configuration including at least one curve and a distal tip; providing the distal region of the catheter device in a substantially straightened configuration; introducing the distal region of the catheter device into a sacral hiatus of a human or animal patient; advancing, while in a straightened configuration, the distal region of the catheter device anterogradely through the epidural canal from the sacral hiatus to a site adjacent a targeted nerve root; and positioning the distal tip of the catheter device in proximity to the targeted nerve root by causing the distal region of the catheter device to resume the pre-formed configuration.