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

Whitney Moore was in prime physical condition just a few years ago. She played junior varsity soccer at West Virginia University before opening a strength and conditioning business for young athletes. In 2004, she injured her shoulder playing soccer and had surgery to repair it. But the surgery only made her shoulder worse. Moore developed a once-rare condition known as chondrolysis, in which the cartilage in the joint wears away causing bone to rub against bone.

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Matthew Beale of Portland, Oregon, routinely participated in football, racquetball and golf, and he enjoyed coaching his son’s baseball teams. But a minor tear in his bicep tendon caused by throwing a football benched the 38-year-old father of four. His doctor recommended routine arthroscopic surgery during which he was prescribed an I-Flow pain pump to deliver pain medication directly to the wound site for up to 72 hours.

However, the anesthetic that dripped from the pain pump into Beale’s shoulder joint killed the cells that create cartilage. Within months, Beale’s cartilage was completely destroyed, causing him so much pain he couldn’t shake his clients’ hands or even pick up his baby without a shockwave of pain. He now faces a complete shoulder replacement that doctors say will likely not permanently resolve his chronic pain or enable him to regain his active lifestyle.

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A statement released by Texas Longhorns trainer Kenny Boyd over the weekend clarifies quarterback Colt McCoy’s injury, which occurred Thursday, Jan. 7, during the BCS National Championship Game. According to the statement, McCoy wanted to get back in the game after being tackled by Alabama’s Marcell Dareus, but “we couldn’t clear him to do that,” Boyd says. McCoy suffered a pinched nerve in his shoulder, which didn’t cause pain but did make him lose feeling in his arm. Three attempts to complete a 7-yard pass to his father in the Texas locker room were all unsuccessful, which proved he could not return to the game.

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Patients who have had an orthopedic surgical procedure and received a prolonged infusion of a local anesthetic into the joint with a disposable elastomeric pump or any other infusion pump are urged by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to pay attention to symptoms of any joint pain, stiffness and decrease or loss of motion. If any of those symptoms persist, patients are advised to contact their health care professional.

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UCLA forward James Keefe will miss two to three weeks with the team to recovery from a dislocated left shoulder. The senior was injured during the first half of UCLA’s game against New Mexico State on December 15th. The injury occurred on the same shoulder that required surgery for a torn labrum in 2007.

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Characteristics of chondrolysis associated with intra-articular pain pumps after shoulder surgery was among the topics at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons/ the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons. The discussion included Drs. Peter Thomas Scheffel, Jeremiah Clinton, Joseph Lynch, Winston J. Warme, and Frederick A. Matsen III, and was moderated by Drs. Carl J. Basamania and Guido Marra. The message centered on the need for surgeons and patients to be aware of chondrolysis as a potential complication of the infusion of local anesthetic after shoulder arthroscopy.

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Jean-Thenistor Pascal, the Haitian-Quebecker professional boxer and current WBC Light Heavyweight Champion, underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder this week and will be unable to train or fight for about nine weeks. The boxer hurt his shoulder while successfully defending his title against Adrian Diaconu last week.

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Five lawsuits against manufacturers of pain pumps and pharmaceutical companies on behalf of 28 people were filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court this month, alleging fraud, breach of warranty and products liability, saying the makers of the products continued to market the pain pumps as mitigation for shoulder joints despite the specific use of those products not being approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The lawsuits also allege that the pain pump devices caused a painful and debilitating condition known as postarthroscopic glenohumeral chondrolysis (PAGCL), in which the cartilage in the shoulder joint wears away causing bone to rub against bone.

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning orthopedic and anesthesia health care providers and hospital risk managers not to continuously infuse local anesthetics directly into the intra-articular joint space because this use of anesthetics has led to a painful and debilitating condition known as chondrolysis, or the decaying and destruction of the cartilage.

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Things were looking promising for Florida State University quarterback Christian Ponder, until last Saturday, when he separated his right shoulder making a tackle after throwing his fourth interception against Clemson. He now faces surgery to repair a Grade 3 AC separation, which will bench him for the rest of the season.

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