"Forget It", says Shoulder Pain Pump Patient

Belleview FLJohn S. says he was told prior to shoulder surgery that his doctor would give him a shoulder pain pump to help manage the pain following the surgery. What John did not know was that the shoulder pain pump was linked to a serious shoulder injury known as Postarthroscopic Glenohumeral Chondrolysis (PAGCL)—a potentially permanent condition that is quite painful.

What John does know is that in January 2009, he had surgery for a torn rotator cuff and he still has severe pain in his shoulder.

"I'm not sure if the pain pump caused my shoulder pain or not," John says. "I had a surgery done on my shoulder. Before the surgery, the doctor said he would put the pain pump in, but that was all he said. He didn't tell me about the side effects. I had the surgery and I think the pain pump was in for about 10 days. I had to go back to the doctor and he took the pump out.

I'm not happy. I'm in as much pain as I was before the surgery. My mobility is as bad as it was before. I don't know for certain it's from the pump, but I read that the pump can cause permanent damage to the cartilage in the shoulder and that's what I'm worried about. I have enough problems without having permanent damage from that pain pump.

I also found out that not every doctor uses this pump. The thing is, my doctor had me on really, really strong pain pills along with the pump. I thought it was strange—why do both? I wonder how effective they [the pain pumps] are as far as getting rid of the pain, if I had to take pills, too.

For the first 10 days after the surgery, my arm was in a sling so I couldn't move my shoulder. I started physical therapy to get it to move but for a while, I couldn't use it. I couldn't even move my arm up to a table to eat—so my mobility was very, very limited.

Now, I do have some mobility. I can lift my arm straight up to the front, but with a lot of pain. I can get it maybe as high as my nose. But, I have a hard time combing my hair. I can do it for 1 to 2 minutes; then I have to switch hands. Sideways—like a scarecrow—I doubt I could get my arm to shoulder height. Tucking my shirt into my pants along the sides—forget it. It hurts too much. I'm in a lot of pain when I move it and even when I'm sitting still.

I have very little strength in the arm. I had surgery and went through 6 weeks of physical therapy. It's a little bit better but not like it should be. I'm right-handed and this is my right shoulder that hurts. Now, I try to do as much as possible with my left hand. I have problems sleeping—the pain in my shoulder wakes me up half the time. I prop the shoulder up on pillows, but I can't sleep on my right side. I take pain pills all the time; every 4 to 5 hours, I need another pain pill. It's a constant pain.

I talked to the doctor but he wants to do another procedure because he says I'm having a problem with scar tissue, so he has to break up the scar tissue and I'll have to start with physical therapy again. He said it should improve the mobility but didn't say if it would get rid of the pain or not. I'm debating whether or not to do it. I don't understand—if the scar tissue was there before, why not do something about it [in that first surgery]? If it's new, then will it come back again after this next surgery?

This has definitely affected my day-to-day life. There are a lot of things I can't or won't do. I have problems sweeping the floor, I have trouble reaching for things and tying my shoes. Even showering is difficult. I thought the surgery would take care of all this.

I was under the impression this pump was totally safe; it's not. I was never informed there is a problem using these pumps. I took my doctor's word. If I had known this could cause permanent injury, I would have said, 'Forget it'."