LAKE FOREST, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 17, 2004--

Research to Test the Efficacy of ON-Q's Continuous Surgical-Site Pain Relief for Pediatric Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery--Goal is to Help Patients Get out of the Hospital and Return to Their Normal Lives Faster

I-Flow Corporation (NASDAQ: IFLO), today announced that Miami Children's Hospital is beginning a study of ON-Q PainBuster(R) for post-surgical pain relief in pediatric patients undergoing surgical cardiac procedures for repair of congenital defects. The goal of the study is to determine if the benefits of a continuous infusion of local anesthetic with the ON-Q PainBuster Post-Operative Pain Relief System, that have been proven in adult patients, will be experienced in patients aged three months and older. The study will examine the effects of ON-Q PainBuster on variables including their level of pain, length of hospital stay, amount of additional analgesia needed to control pain, satisfaction of post-operative pain relief and the amount of medication absorbed.

Post-surgical pain is often controlled with narcotics such as morphine, but these drugs can result in unfavorable side effects including difficulty breathing, nausea and vomiting and can cause patients to remain hospitalized longer. ON-Q PainBuster, an effective non-narcotic surgical-site pain relief device, has been shown to reduce the need for narcotics in adult surgical patients by an average of 40 to 70 percent, depending on the procedure. This often enables patients to leave the hospital days earlier than when treated just with narcotics so they can return to their normal lives faster after surgery.

The Principal Investigator of the study is Christopher F. Tirotta, M.D., MBA, Director of Cardiovascular Anesthesia, who is working closely with co-investigators Redmond Burke, M.D., Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery, and Robert Hannan, M.D., all of Miami Children's Hospital. In this randomized, double-blind study, the ON-Q PainBuster pump will be used with all patients whose parents give permission for them to volunteer to participate. Half of the ON-Q PainBuster pumps will be filled with a local anesthetic to be delivered to the surgical site and the other half will be filled with a placebo (saline). All patients will receive the same outstanding care at Miami Children's Hospital, whether they participate in the study or not.

"Pediatric pain management is a significant challenge due in part to the reluctance and at times to the inability of patients to ask for pain medication, as well as the unwillingness of doctors to administer adequate doses of narcotics," said Dr. Tirotta. "With this study we hope to see a reduced need for narcotics during the post-operative period, demonstrating that site-specific pain relief can not only improve in-hospital care, but also lead to a faster recovery and discharge."

"Thousands of pediatric cardiac surgeries are performed each year at hospitals like Miami Children's," said Donald M. Earhart, president and CEO of I-Flow Corporation. "We are committed to helping surgical patients return to their everyday activities faster and we are optimistic that this study will prove that ON-Q PainBuster can play a key role in post-surgical pain relief for even the youngest of patients."

About ON-Q

The ON-Q PainBuster Post-Operative Pain Relief System provides targeted pain relief after surgery only where the body needs it, delivering a non-narcotic numbing medication directly to an incision site. ON-Q PainBuster consists of a small, high-tech balloon pump that delivers local anesthetic, a pain-numbing medication, directly to the surgical site for up to five days. The anesthetic is administered through a tiny specially-designed tube (catheter) that's inserted by a surgeon during surgery. ON-Q is cleared for use by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

ON-Q can deliver narcotic-free pain relief for many surgeries, including: cesarean sections, hysterectomies, knee replacements, mastectomies, cardiovascular/thoracic procedures, foot and ankle surgeries and many cosmetic surgeries. A growing body of clinical information is becoming available for ON-Q for many different surgeries. For more information about ON-Q, visit www.AskYourSurgeon.com or call 800-448-3569.

About the Congenital Heart Institute at Miami Children's Hospital

Since its inception in 1996, the 28-bed Heart Institute has cared for more than 2,000 infants and children admitted from around the country and the world. The Congenital Heart Institute at Miami Children's is comprised of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU), along with the division of cardiovascular surgery, the cardiac catheterization laboratory, and the heart station. The Institute is the largest provider of care for pediatric congenital heart patients in Florida, and boasts clinical results that are second to none in the country - a survival rate of 98 percent - and among the best in the world.

About Miami Children's Hospital

Founded in 1950, Miami Children's Hospital is the only licensed specialty hospital for children in South Florida. The 268-bed medical complex offers medical care and services for children from birth to age 21. The facility treats more than 185,000 patients each year and has expertise in all aspects of pediatric medicine.

About I-Flow Corporation

I-Flow Corporation (www.iflo.com) designs, develops and markets technically advanced drug delivery systems that are redefining the standard of care by providing life enhancing, cost effective solutions for pain relief.

Certain disclosures made by the Company in this press release and in other reports and statements released by the Company are and will be forward-looking in nature, such as comments that express the Company's opinions about trends and factors that may impact future operating results. Disclosures that use words such as the Company "believes," "anticipates," or "expects" or use similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those expected, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to republish revised forward-looking statements to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Readers are also urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures made by the Company in this release which seek to advise interested parties of the risks and other factors that affect the Company's business, as well as in the Company's periodic reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The risks affecting the Company's business include reliance on the success of the home health care industry, the Company's success in pursuing its direct sales strategy, the reimbursement system currently in place and future changes to that system, competition in the industry, economic and political conditions in foreign countries, currency exchange rates, inadequacy of booked reserves, technological changes and product availability. Any such forward-looking statements, whether made in this release or elsewhere, should be considered in context with the various disclosures made by the Company about its business.

    CONTACT: Schwartz Communications
             Wendy Williams or Brian Bogie, 781-684-0770
             i-flow@schwartz-pr.com
             or
             I-Flow Corporation
             Orlando Rodrigues, 949-206-2619
             orlando.rodrigues@i-flowcorp.com
             or
             Miami Children's Hospital
             Cynthia Guiterrez-White, 305-663-8476
             cynthia.guiterrez@mch.com

    SOURCE: I-Flow Corporation