What if i cough during an epidural injection?

Not Worrisome: Anesthesiologists take appropriate precautions to minimize the risk of minor movement during epidural procedures. Letting him/her know of an anticipated cough would be appropriate.

Usually nothing: Allthough it is not truly necessary most epidurals today are done with the patient sedated. Accordingly coughing is not an issue. If however you did cough the danger would be based on what type of epidural you were receiving and where the needle tip was. In most cases it would not matter. In some cases you could end up with a bad headache and in some cases you might damage the spinal cord.

Safe: In experienced hands most likely nothing. If epidural needle tip penetrates tissues in front of spinal cord you can develop treatable headache. Damage to spinal cord theoretically possible, but very unlikely.

Usually nothing: Most physicians who perform epidurals anchor the needle in a way that if the patient moves, the needle moves with the patient. For a midline epidural, there is risk of a "wet tap" where the needle ends up in the intrathecal space and that can be associated with a headache. Nerve damage or paralysis is extremely unlikely but possible. It also depends on type of epidural performed. Good luck.

If you are about to: then let the doctor know before the injection to determine what is best to do for you. Typically, if your coughing in uncontrollable then it may not be safe to do the injection without getting that treated first.