LAKE FOREST, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 20, 2004--

Study Finds Narcotic-Free ON-Q PainBuster Reduces Post-Surgical Pain Following Cesarean Section and Provides Patients Additional Long-Term Pain Benefits

I-Flow Corporation (NASDAQ: IFLO) announced today that a study highlighting the benefits of using ON-Q(R) PainBuster(R) to deliver non-narcotic, site-specific pain relief following cesarean section procedures was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology this week in Ft. Myers, FL. The presentation, titled "Continuous Wound Instillation After Cesarean Section: Local Analgesic Effect of Diclofenac" detailed how patients treated with a local anesthetic infused directly to the surgical site with ON-Q PainBuster showed a significant reduction in pain following surgery while requiring less narcotics. Narcotics, today's standard of care, are often associated with side effects including nausea, drowsiness, constipation, difficulty breathing and potential addiction. The study also examined the long-term benefits of having used ON-Q PainBuster following a cesarean section, finding that up to six months after surgery patients experienced no residual pain, whereas 22 percent of the patients in the control did have residual pain.

"It is a well known fact that women feel pain immediately following a cesarean section procedure, which we found can be significantly reduced when delivering local anesthesia via the ON-Q PainBuster," said Patricia M. Lavand'homme, M.D. of the Universite Catholique de Louvain, lead investigator of the study. "What most do not know is that months following the surgery, women can experience pain at the incision site. Our study has shown that the use of ON-Q can also reduce this residual pain effectively up to six months following surgery."

The double-blind, randomized study, conducted at the Universite Catholique de Louvain in Brussels, Belgium involved 60 patients who received post-surgical pain relief with ON-Q PainBuster. One third of the patients received a placebo (saline), one third received ropivacaine and one third received diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory drug similar to Motrin(R). Pain scores were assessed at 12, 24 and 48 hours, one month and six months post-surgery, and it was found that patients that received the ON-Q with diclofenac required significantly less narcotics than the two other groups. In addition, at the one month interval only five percent of patients experienced residual pain while no patients felt pain six months after surgery. This corroborates a recent study by Scott Schell, M.D., Ph.D. that found that even 90 days after breast cancer surgery patients who completed treatment with ON-Q experienced significantly lower pain and disability. This leads to a suggestion that the use of ON-Q may lead to a reduction in residual or chronic pain after surgery.

"Numerous published and presented studies have shown that ON-Q relieves short-term pain immediately following surgery," said Donald M. Earhart, president and CEO of I-Flow Corporation. "However, this study is significant as it tracked the long-term effects of ON-Q PainBuster and corroborated the findings in Dr. Schell's study, as well as those in clinical research performed by Dr. Waxman and by Dr. LeBlanc previously. When we consider these outcomes, we see that the use of ON-Q not only reduces the pain immediately following surgery but, as in these studies, eliminates the occurrence of chronic pain in the future. These findings are significant for patients who want to get back to their normal lives faster and, once back, want to stay pain free."

About ON-Q PainBuster

The ON-Q PainBuster is a simple yet elegant device that consists of a small balloon pump that holds a local anesthetic (a pain-numbing medicine) and delivers it through a tiny, specially-designed tube (catheter) directly into the surgical site. The proprietary ON-Q Soaker(TM) Catheter is designed to provide more even distribution of local anesthetic over a wider area, as compared to other catheters, because of its patented wicking capabilities.

ON-Q PainBuster delivers narcotic-free pain relief for many surgeries, including: cesarean section, hysterectomy, knee replacement, mastectomy, cardio-vascular/thoracic, foot and ankle and many cosmetic procedures. ON-Q PainBuster helps patients avoid the side effects of narcotics so they can get back to their normal lives faster. Currently, 30 studies on the use of ON-Q have been completed and published and more are underway to demonstrate the benefits of ON-Q in additional areas such as pediatrics and wound healing.

For more information about ON-Q, visit www.AskYourSurgeon.com or call 800-448-3569.

About I-Flow Corporation

I-Flow Corporation (www.iflo.com) designs, develops and markets technically advanced, low-cost drug delivery systems and services 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, among others: implementation of our direct sales strategy; dependence on our suppliers and distributors; reliance on the success of the home health care industry; our continuing compliance with applicable laws and regulations, such as the Food Drug and Cosmetics Act, and the FDA's concurrence with our management's subjective judgment on compliance issues; 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 and acceptance. All 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
             iflo@schwartz-pr.com
             or
             I-Flow Corporation
             Orlando Rodrigues, 949-206-2619
             orlandorodrigues@iflo.com

    SOURCE: I-Flow Corporation