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Imagine a 16-year–old athlete being told that a shoulder surgery that was supposed to relieve his shoulder problems has caused permanent damage to his shoulder, and it will never be the same. Any hopes of being normal again, or pursuing an athletic career, are gone. The damage is done.
Through arthroscopic shoulder surgery, patients hope for better use of their shoulder and to put an end to their shoulder pain. The expectations of the surgery include alleviating patients’ shoulder problems, and for their post-surgical pain to be eased through pain pumps. While the problems initially might have been alleviated through surgery, it was the pump to ease the pain after the surgery that brought the patients back with more pain and suffering than before.
Post-Arthroscopic Glenohumeral Chondrolysis, or PAGCL, is a debilitating and life altering shoulder injury associated with intra-articular pain pumps used in conjunction with arthroscopic shoulder surgery.
Dr. Charles Beck, a well-respected orthopedic surgeon, recently issued a warning that a commonly used device designed to reduce pain after surgery is potentially dangerous when used in the shoulder joint space. The devices, manufactured by Stryker Corporation, I-Flow Inc. and other companies, deliver high concentrations of pain medication directly to a surgical site. According to the recently published article co-authored by Dr. Beck, they can cause permanent and debilitating damage to the shoulder. In discussing the matter, Dr. Beck stated:
