Morphine Pump Implants
Chronic pain is not like other diseases. If you are currently suffering from chronic pain, it is likely that most people do not understand what you’re going through or the effects that the pain is having on you physically and mentally. The truth is that most people are just misinformed.One of the things that makes treating chronic pain a challenge is that there is no set protocol or no set steps that you can take to make it better. Chronic pain is characterized by factors that are so unique it’s difficult to even communicate to others what type of pain you are experiencing.
Chronic pain is very personal, it is very emotional, and it can be very debilitating. We understand the unique challenges you are going through dealing with chronic pain, and we want to use our years of experience to help you.There are as many pain management therapies as there are individual types of pain.
Our goal is to work with you to find a therapy that produces results. For some of our clients, a morphine pump has been their best option.
Whether you are at work, out in public, watching a movie at a theater, or dining with friends, the sudden onset of pain can be so intense that you feel like you are going to explode, and yet there’s nothing you can do about it.
Many fibromyalgia sufferers have had the disheartening experience of talking about their condition with doctors and other medical professionals only to be branded as a complainer or as an attention seeking hypochondriac.
Fibromyalgia pain can leave you feeling like you can’t finish anything. You have a dinner that is halfway made, an art project that just started, laundry piling up around the house, and you constantly feel like you live your life dropping the ball. This is what fibromyalgia pain is.
What Is a Morphine Pump?
As its name implies, a morphine pump is a device designed to deliver morphine directly to the spinal fluid to treat chronic pain. It is a permanent implant that is installed during a surgical procedure.
What Is the Purpose of a Morphine Pump?
A morphine pump allows medical professionals to deliver morphine directly to the spinal fluid. This in turn avoids certain side effects when high dose narcotic pain medications are taken orally or intravenously.
How Is a Morphine Pump Installed?
The first step is to determine whether or not you qualify for this procedure. This is determined by injecting a small amount of morphine into your spinal canal. Over the next few hours, medical professionals will examine how the morphine affects your pain as well as negative side effects it produces. If you react well, you are likely a candidate for the implementation of a permanent morphine pump.
Before the procedure, you will be given a general anesthetic. The pump will be placed underneath the covering of your abdominal muscles. A small tube or catheter is connected from the pump to a needle that is injected in the spinal fluid space. The pump is full of morphine, and it is programed release morphine at a set dose and at a set time.
Once the surgery is complete, the incisions are closed with stitches or surgical staples. These will be removed once the incisions have healed. The entire procedure takes up to two hours.
Is the Procedure Safe?
As with all medical procedures, there is a risk of potential complications. With this procedure, the potential complications include:
- Infection
- Negative Reaction to General Anesthetic
- Continued Pain
- Cerebrospinal Fluid Leak
- Nerve Damage Leading to Pain and Numbness or Weakness
- Paralysis
There is also the possibility that the hardware, including the catheter and the pump, may malfunction and lead to complications.
The success rate of this therapy is generally positive. Most patients respond well to the treatment if they are responded well to the test that was performed before the operation.
Recovery
After the surgery, you will be hospitalized for a few days. The rate at which you can return back to your normal activities varies depending on the condition you were in before the surgery, your age, and your overall health.
Your physician will release you once you are able to walk on your own, able to use the bathroom on your own and eat without nausea.
You will need to have the pump refilled every few months. These refills are performed by a medical professional using a syringe and needle.
How We Can Help
We have seen firsthand how debilitating living with chronic pain can be. Our mission is to help our clients manage or completely remove their pain. To this end, we begin every consultation listening to you. We want to hear about the pain you have been experiencing as well as the treatments have tried until now.
Armed with this information, we will be able to craft an individualized treatment plan to meet your needs. We are committed to helping our clients live a pain-free life. We understand that all pain is real, and we will never doubt or question the pain that you feel.
In many cases, treating pain is not something that happens overnight. It takes time and patience, but it can be accomplished. Our staff will diligently work with you until you attain your pain management goals. We will not give up on you.
Contact us today, and let us show you firsthand our short-term and long-term pain management treatments with the goal of helping you get back to living the life you deserve.