Shoulder Pain Pump Information
Intrathecal drug delivery, or “pain pump,” is a method of injecting medication directly to your spinal cord. The system uses a small pump about the size of a cell phone that is surgically placed under the skin of your abdomen and delivers medication through a catheter to the area around your spinal cord – similar to an epidural that women may have during childbirth.
The pain pumps first used in the 1990s were limited in the amount of anesthetic they could deliver, and surgeons placed the pain pump catheter in the muscle or outside the shoulder joint. In later years, manufacturers increased the anesthetic capacity with high-volume pumps. Several pain pump manufacturers applied to the FDA to alter their package inserts to include an indication for placement of the pain pump catheter in the shoulder joint space but the FDA repeatedly denied these applications. Nonetheless, physicians began inserting pain pumps into the shoulder joint space. And shoulder pain pumps have been widely used to manage post-operative pain after shoulder surgery.
Numerous lawsuits have been filed by patients alleging that shoulder pain pumps have caused irreversible damage to the patient’s shoulder through a condition known as “glenohumeral chondrolysis.” Glenohumeral chondrolysis is a complete or nearly complete loss of cartilage in the shoulder joint. It is irreversible. The absence of cartilage causes the bones to grind together, which is disabling and extremely painful.
In 2004, multiple scientific studies confirmed the toxic effects of pain pump anesthetics on shoulder cartilage. In late 2005 and early 2006, Dr. Charles L. Beck, an orthopedic surgeon, reported disturbing findings to the scientific community about pain pump use. His research found that a significant number of his shoulder patients developed chondrolysis following intra-articular placement of a pain pump catheter. He associated these injuries with the use of intra-articular pain pumps, i.e., pain pumps inserted into the shoulder joint.
The law firm of Brown & Szaller represents numerous individuals in Ohio who suffered catastrophic injury from use of a pain pump. The litigation is ongoing.