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Pain Pump Shoulder Injuries - Medical Malpractice
Shoulder surgery can be quite painful, often requiring the use of some sort of pain relief or pain management following the surgery. Oral painkillers can be prescribed but physicians, in an effort to manage post-operative shoulder pain, often surgically implant a small, flexible plastic tube in the shoulder joint during the arthroscopic surgery. This tube is called an intra-articular pain pump catheter and is left in the shoulder for a small length of time following surgery in order to deliver pain medication directly to the area. A mechanical pump then sends medication directly into the shoulder of the patient via the catheter tube. Pain pumps can provide some relief, but growing evidence indicates that the risks may outweigh any benefit. Instead, the use of intra-articular pain pumps has been associated with Postarthroscopic Glenohumeral Chondrolysis (PAGCL). PAGCL is the progressive deterioration of cartilage in the shoulder, specifically in the glenohumeral joint—the one that connects the arm and shoulder. The end of the arm bone which connects to the joint is covered in articular cartilage, which allows for smooth movement of the shoulder joint. When this cartilage is damaged or destroyed, the joint can no longer move easily which can cause extreme pain and a significant loss in range of motion. Symptoms of PAGCL include pain in the shoulder when in motion or at rest, popping or grinding when the shoulder is in motion, increased shoulder joint stiffness, and loss of strength in the joint. PAGCL can typically be easily diagnosed with a simple x-ray showing a narrowing of the shoulder joint space. Further surgery is normally required, but patients often do not ever regain full use of their shoulder. Unfortunately, PAGCL can frequently be worse and more painful than the original condition being treated.
PAGCL & Pain Pump Use
The correlation between PAGCL and intra-articular pain pump use was revealed in 2006 report by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. 152 patients who had undergone arthroscopic shoulder surgery were studied and it was determined that 12 of them had developed PAGCL. The only factor that these twelve PAGCL sufferers had in common was that they each received a pain pump during their surgeries.
Get Answers
If you or a loved one has undergone arthroscopic shoulder surgery and experienced some of the symptoms associated with PAGCL, you may want to contact an experienced attorney who can talk to you about the possibility of filing a personal injury claim. In order to be entitled to compensation for your injury, it is important to remember that there is often a statute of limitations in place, limiting the amount of time you have to file a claim. It is also a good idea to contact a lawyer as soon as possible so that evidence may be preserved and the appropriate parties involved may be contacted. A personal injury lawyer will be able to protect your rights and help you get the compensation you deserve.
What are pain pumps?
Pain pumps and arthroscopic shoulder surgery are two different ways of treating pain which may be otherwise difficult to manage using more conventional medical and surgical methods. Pain pumps are normally used for spinal injuries, and arthroscopic shoulder surgery can be used on a variety of shoulder ailments.
Pain pumps are often used to treat patients in intolerable pain who cannot take oral medications, or for certain types of muscle spasticity. They work by delivering small doses of medicine into the spinal fluid of a patient at a rate determined by one's doctor. Since the device is small and remains inside the patient, surgery is required for the pump to be used. Complications from these pumps usually do not arise from the surgery itself, but from malfunctions, which may result in a toxic dose of the drug being released. Also, one Norwegian study found a higher rate of infection related to intrathecal baclofen pump installation. Another study in the Journal of Paediatric Child Health found that individuals with spinal spasticity and dystonia could face complications from pain pumps. However, these infection and complication rates are significantly higher in children, and adults generally tolerate pain pumps much better.
Arthroscopic shoulder surgery is commonly performed on rotator cuff tears and tendonitis. It is a less invasive means of surgery than traditional open surgery, and uses a camera and small instruments, inserted through small incisions into the shoulder, to operate on specific tendons and muscles. However, there is some debate as to whether this method is any more effective, or less risky, than open surgery. Complete healing rates after this surgery for a torn rotator cuff can range from 58.8% to 96.7% depending on the size of the tear, although even with incomplete healing patients will experience improvements in their quality of life. These post-surgical defects tend to increase over time, with patients losing up to 45% of the movement they were originally able to achieve after healing from surgery. Despite these caveats, arthroscopic shoulder surgery patients report a high degree of satisfaction with the procedure.
Depending on the nature and severity of a person's ailments, these treatments could be useful options to raise their quality of life. However, like all medical treatments, both pain pumps and arthroscopic surgeries carry their unique set of positive and negative aspects.
