 | | On-Q PainBuster device |
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Pain specialists and surgeons at Sacred Heart Hospital are using an innovative medical device that provides surgery patients with effective pain relief without the use of narcotics.
The new On-Q PainBuster device is a small portable pump that is worn by hospital patients who will have pain after surgery. It delivers non-narcotic, pain-numbing medication through a thin tube or catheter directly into a stitched up incision or to the nerves close to the wound.
“You can go home with this pump and have minimal pain,” said Dr. J. Mark Fannin, an anesthesiologist at Sacred Heart Hospital.
Sacred Heart is the first hospital in Northwest Florida to use the new technology. For hospital patients, the post-operative pain relief system means:
A faster, more comfortable recovery
A constant level of effective pain relief for several days after surgery
Less need for narcotics that affect the whole body. The local anesthetics used in the new pain pump allow surgery patients to avoid nausea, drowsiness, constipation, breathing difficulties, and other possible side effects of narcotics such as morphine and Demerol.
Earlier release from the hospital
The new pain blocking technique is being used at Sacred Heart in many types of orthopedic surgery, including shoulder and knee replacement, elbow and hand surgery, ankle and foot fractures and rotator cuff surgery. The device is also being used by some patients who have general surgery, gynecologic surgery, bariatric surgery and heart surgery.
“With the PainBuster pump, we are able to block pain in the surgical area and minimize the use of anesthetics that affect the entire body and may slow the recovery process,” said Dr. Fannin. “Where pain control is needed after the patient goes home, we can give the patient a small pump that infuses a local anesthetic right to the source of the pain. We are using it to provide pain control for the first three or four days after surgery.”
The new pain pump means Sacred Heart’s anesthesiologists can increase their use of regional anesthesia and continuous nerve blocks while decreasing use of narcotics.
“We are happy to pioneer the use of innovative pain relief technology such as the PainBuster,” said Dr. William Goldsmith, anesthesiologist at Sacred Heart. “With advances such as the On-Q system, we are able to provide anesthesia that leaves patients with less nausea, grogginess and other side effects. We believe this will become the standard of pain care for surgery patients.”
The pain relief pump looks like a small balloon that can be attached to the patient’s belt or clothes. The balloon is filled with medication that flows at a steady rate through a catheter that is inserted into the skin and the tissue surrounding a surgical incision. The catheter can be placed before surgery or during the surgery.
For more information on the portable pain pump, call 969-1319 or visit online at www.askyoursurgeon.com.
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Labels: pain relief, Pain Specialists, Weight Loss Surgery
