Shoulder Pain Pumps Lethal to the Shoulder

Washington, DCA fairly recent, and apparently untested shoulder injury pain management system has been causing all kinds of problems for patients recovering from shoulder surgery. Yes, they might recover from the surgery. But they may never fully recover from the use of a shoulder pain pump that delivers pain medication directly to the targeted surgical site.

Were that the end of it, it may not have evolved into such an issue. The delivery of pain medication directly to a surgical site has proven more effective than oral pain medications, bringing faster relief to the patient. And the sending of pain medication directly into the muscle, even within the context of shoulder surgery, isn't the issue.

The issue, is that the medical community didn't stop there. Somehow, manufacturers of pain pumps convinced doctors that it was acceptable to direct pain medication right into the shoulder, exposing the cartilage to a toxic soup of chemicals it does not compete well against.

The result is Postarthroscopic glenohumeral chondrolysis or PAGCL. Not only is PAGCL extremely painful, it can also evolve to a life-long disability. That's because the pain medication succeeds in breaking down the precious cartilage that serves as a buffer between the shoulder, and the arm.

When that cartilage is gone, that's it. Your body doesn't make more of it. A shoulder replacement is the only option, and shoulder replacements are not only expensive, they don't last quite so long either. Thus, a relatively young person injured in any number of ways and now suffering PAGCL from shoulder surgery, could be facing several surgeries over his or her lifetime just to retain mobility.

The worst-case scenario is that mobility is lost. There have been cases where a shoulder has been fused, robbing the individual of the use of his, or her arm. There have also been cases where an arm had to be amputated.

Imagine this happening to a young person…

There are various symptoms associated with PAGCL that should be addressed, especially if the individual has had shoulder surgery and a pain pump was used for pain management.

Increased pain in the shoulder at rest, as well as with motion is one sure sign of PAGCL. Another is increased stiffness in the shoulder, as well as clicking, popping or grinding of the shoulder joint. If you note a decrease in range of motion in the shoulder, together with loss of strength, then you need to get to a doctor.

The Pain of a Shoulder Pain Pump

The advent of the pain pump in the 1990s was heralded as a marked improvement in the area of pain medication delivery. No longer did the body have to process the pain medication taken orally, before it delivered pain relief. It's also hard to deliver localized pain relief using an oral pain medication.

Thus, the pain pump's ability to send pain medication right where it hurts not only succeeded in making the delivery of pain medication simpler, it also cut down on the lag time between the introduction of the pain medication, and the benefit. Patients simply wear the portable intra-articular post-operative pain pump strapped to their waist or arm, and the pain relief goes wherever they go.

It appears the introduction of the shoulder pain pump directly to the shoulder itself—delivering pain medication directly to the articular cartilage, was not properly vetted and tested. PAGCL was emerging post-operatively, but doctors could not get a handle on just what was causing the debilitating condition until a study published in 2006 shed some light on the problem.

In a report generated by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS), the use of the shoulder pain pump was linked to PAGCL. The AAOS did an observational study and looked at the charts of 152 patients who had undergone arthroscopic shoulder surgeries. Twelve of the patients developed PAGCL. All 12 of them were assigned a shoulder pain pump as part of their recovery. It was found that there were no further common factors amongst the 12 patients afflicted, beyond the use of the pain pump.

Sadly, there is no cure for PAGCL. Once the articular cartilage is affected, and exposed to the toxicity of pain medication, there is no turning back. It begins to break down; it wears prematurely, only to fail. The only alternative is shoulder replacement surgery, or the pain and loss of mobility.

Any patient recently undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery, who used a shoulder pain pump and suddenly presents with PAGCL symptoms, should make two calls.

One to a doctor. You'd be well advised to make that second call to a lawyer.