News Tagged ‘Medicine

Pain pump malfunction saves officer’s right shoulder

When a 37-year-old canine officer injured both of her shoulders after a fall at work, she sought shoulder surgery to fix her injuries and to relieve the pain she suffered. Multiple procedures were performed on both shoulders, most of which I can’t even pronounce, and postoperative pain pumps were administered to both shoulders following the surgery.  The problems she suffered in the future were not something she had bargained for.

Read the rest of this entry »

The pump that doesn’t ease the pain

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

Pain pumps can cause cartilage damage

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:

Read the rest of this entry »