Objective To explore the application effect of postural animation video instruction mode in elderly patients undergoing epidural anesthesia. Methods A total of 300 patients with epidural anesthesia were registered from January 2015 to February 2016. The patients were divided into trial group and control group with 150 cases each. The trial group was preoperatively interviewed by the postural anatomy video instruction mode, and the control group was only preoperatively interviewed by oral interpretation. The epidural anesthesia effect and anxiety between the two groups were compared. Results The difference of anesthesia posture and anatomical position, the average time of epidural puncture, the success rate of one puncture and the degree of anxiety before and after mission were 90.67% (136/150), (14.50 ± 10.20) s, (425.60 ± 78.30) s, 97.33% (146/150) and (21.65 ± 6.62) points respectively. The control group was 22.00%(33/150), (112.60 ± 60.80) s, (589.40 ± 90.70)s, 82.67%(124/150) and (6.65 ± 5.40) points respectively. There were significant differences between the two groups (χ2=8.79, t=13.54-19.88, all P < 0.01). Conclusions The postural anatomical video teaching mode can relieve anxiety, improve the degree of fit of epidural anesthesia and the success rate of puncture, shorten the time of posture, thus shorten the average time of epidural puncture, improve the quality of nursing in the operating room, work efficiency.