LAKE FOREST, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 14, 2004--

Surgeons on the Medical Staff at Baylor Dallas Enhance Satisfaction and Outcomes by Enabling Some Patients to Get Back to Normal Faster

I-Flow Corporation (NASDAQ: IFLO) today announced that Dr. Todd McCarty, Dr. Joseph Kuhn, Dr. Nick Nicholson and Dr. David Arnold on the medical staff of Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas have incorporated ON-Q(R) PainBuster(R), a narcotic-free surgical-site pain relief system, into their innovative outpatient bariatric (weight loss) surgical program. Patients undergo laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery followed by an intra-operative bolus of steroids and the use of an anesthetic agent to "fast track" waking and avoid respiratory complications. Surgeons then use a closure technique that fosters rapid healing and prevents future hernia problems. The goal in adding ON-Q PainBuster to this program is to relieve pain effectively while reducing the incidence of narcotic related side effects that require patients to remain in the hospital for a longer period of time. In the over 700 procedures where ON-Q was used, a correlation was noted between improved post-surgical pain relief and shorter hospital stays.

"Patients undergoing laparoscopic bariatric surgery used to spend two to three days in the hospital because of narcotic side effects such as sedation, decreased intestinal motility, respiratory depression and an increased risk of blood clots if they're unable to ambulate quickly following surgery. Now, with the addition of ON-Q PainBuster for post-surgical pain relief our patients are usually out of the hospital in less than 24 hours without these complications," said Dr. Kuhn, Attending Surgeon.

Dr. McCarty, Medical Director of the Weight Loss Surgery Program at Baylor Dallas, adds, "The decrease in narcotic intake and reduction in hospital stay improves our patients' overall surgical experience, generally helping them get on the path to recovery and back to their normal lives faster. This is one of the fastest growing areas of medicine and improved post-operative pain control could help hundreds of thousands of patients each year. As a major teaching institution, we see surgeons from around the country who are interested in integrating innovative clinical care pathways into their practice."

ON-Q PainBuster recently received enhanced indications for use from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is now labeled to provide significantly better pain relief than narcotics alone and significantly less need for narcotics after surgery. ON-Q PainBuster provides effective post-operative analgesia by continuously infusing a local anesthetic around the incision site, which is responsible for most of the pain resulting from the surgery. In conjunction with the minimally-invasive laparoscopic technique, the use of the ON-Q PainBuster offers significantly better pain relief following surgery.

"With the addition of ON-Q PainBuster to the technique developed at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, in general, patients are recovering faster from laparoscopic bariatric procedures with less pain and less narcotic use," said Donald M. Earhart, president and CEO of I-Flow Corporation. "For bariatric surgery patients where early ambulation is so important, we feel ON-Q presents a clear and meaningful benefit. We hope that hospitals around the country will replicate this technique pioneered at Baylor which is effective in improving patient satisfaction."

About ON-Q PainBuster

ON-Q is now labeled to significantly reduce pain and narcotics intake after surgery. 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 AskYourSurgeon.com or call 800-448-3569.

About I-Flow Corporation

I-Flow Corporation (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.

Physicians are members of the medical staff at one of Baylor Health Care System's subsidiary, community or affiliated medical centers and are neither employees nor agents of those medical centers, Baylor University Medical Center or Baylor Health Care System. I-Flow Corporation is not affiliated with nor an agent of Baylor Health Care System, Baylor University Medical Center nor their affiliated or community medical centers. The ON-Q PainBuster is used at Baylor University Medical Center and Baylor University Medical Center makes no warranties or representations regarding its appropriateness for use in any other hospital or clinical setting.

    CONTACT: Schwartz Communications
             Wendy Williams/Michele Saltzberg, 781-684-0770
             iflo@schwartz-pr.com
             or
             Orlando Rodrigues, 949-206-2619
             orlandorodrigues@iflo.com
             or
             Weight Loss Surgery
             Surgical Associates, 214-824-9963

    SOURCE: I-Flow Corporation