Pain pumps are a method of drug delivery that allows direct delivery of anesthesia to the spinal nerves, joints, or area of inflammation.
Intrathecal drug delivery uses a pump the size of a hockey puck to direct medication to joints or to the area immediately surrounding the spinal cord. The pain pump system contains both a pump and a catheter, both of which are subcutaneously implanted in the patient’s soft tissue around the abdomen or affected joint.
The pain pump delivers pain medication in discrete doses directly to the affected area. Because the medication is delivered directly to the area of inflammation, smaller doses of medication are required to obtain a result. Patients who respond well to pain pump therapy are those who have failed to obtain relief from conventional analgesics and opioid analgesics.
Shoulder Pain Pump InjuriesShoulder pain pumps have been particularly problematic in those patients who have received high doses of lidocaine to the shoulder joint for post-operative pain relief. The pain pumps are disposable pumps that deliver controlled doses of anesthetics to a surgical site for up to three days after surgery. The condition is known as postarthroscopic glenohumeral chondrolysis, or
PAGCL, and is characterized by a degeneration of the cartilage surrounding the joint. There are no known treatments to remedy this condition aside from shoulder replacement surgery.
This degenerative joint injury is extremely painful to patients who have used a pain pump.
PAGCL causes a reduction in the shoulder’s range of motion as well as stiffness, tenderness, inflammation, and a ‘grinding’ or ‘popping’ sensation in the shoulder joint area.
Attorneys associated with InjuryBoard are reviewing cases of pain pump injury victims now, and will review your case
free of charge. Please click on the right hand side of the page to
speak to an attorney today.
Please fill out the
form for a free consultation with an
attorney today. Remember that there are
time constraints within which you must bring suit.