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

Pain pumps are getting a bad rap lately, thanks to the emergence of chondrolysis, a debilitating condition that was once unheard of in the shoulder joint but is now affecting hundreds who have undergone shoulder surgery. But Pearland, Texas, Dr. Leo Lapuerta says the devices are not banned for all medical procedures and that they are particularly beneficial for plastic surgeries.

Pain pumps, also known as infusion pumps, are devices that feed a steady flow of anesthetic into the surgical space following surgery. The devices fell under strict review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after numerous reports of chondrolysis were reported in patients who had used the pumps, leading the agency to launch the Infusion Pump Improvement Initiative to address infusion pump safety problems.

Chondrolysis is a condition in which the cartilage in the joint space wears away causing bone to rub against bone. It causes severe pain and loss of motion. There is no cure for chondrolysis other than total shoulder replacement.

While the pumps may be beneficial in surgeries such as “tummy tuck” procedures, they have been proven unsafe for shoulder surgeries and in fact were never even approved by the FDA to be used in that manner. But that didn’t stop pain pump manufacturers from instructing surgeons to use the pumps in shoulder surgeries. As a result, hundreds of chondrolysis sufferers have filed lawsuits against pain pump manufacturers claiming they were not adequately warned of the risk of developing chondrolysis.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 at 7:00 am 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.