Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

Just as the baseball season was getting underway, Tampa Bay Rays J.P. Howell had surgery on his left shoulder, ending his season prematurely. The left-handed reliever had to stop a simulated game last week just after starting because of discomfort in his shoulder. Two days later he was in surgery. Howell is expected to be recovered enough to play in the 2011 season.

“We certainly knew that it was a possibility. We went through the rehab process in a very methodical way to give us the best chance to get him back on the mound, and it didn’t work,” executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told USA Today. ”But in the meantime, we strengthened up the shoulder through the rehab process, which we feel like will aid in the recovery. And by all indications, (the surgery) went really well.” Howell is expected to recover in time to play during the 2011 season.

For some, however, shoulder surgery can exacerbate the injury. In the late 1990s, surgeons were told by the manufacturers of pain pumps that the devices could be used effectively in place of oral or IV painkillers. This reduced hospital stays and was to speed up the recovery process. However, doctors began seeing patients who underwent shoulder surgery but then developed a painful and debilitating condition known as chondrolysis in which the cartilage in the shoulder wears away causing bone to rub against bone.

It didn’t take long for doctors to realize that it was the pain pumps that were causing the chondrolysis. What was even more shocking is that the use of pain pumps in the manner in which pain pump manufacturers were telling doctors to do was never approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Last year, the FDA issued a notice to health care providers informing them that the pain pumps should not be used in shoulder surgery and that the use has never been approved.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 at 2:17 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.