From Deseret News archives:
Pumps are making gains in pain
Regional nerve block lets patient be alert and assist in own recovery
It's a story that Lt. Col. Chester "Trip" Buckenmaier III, chief of Army Regional Anesthesia and Pain Management Initiative and a physician at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, likes to tell for many reasons. For one thing, it was a medical first in a battleground situation.
Instead of knocking Wilhelm out with narcotics like morphine that are the mainstay of pain control during a conflict, Buckenmaier did a peripheral nerve block using a medicine-infusion pump made in West Jordan by Sorenson Medical.
"Pain is sort of undertreated and probably not given its full due," said Buckenmaier in a phone interview
The attitude has been that if you have surgery or you're injured in battle, you can expect pain and you'll have to live with it, he said. "Morphine and narcotics have been the mainstay in pain medicine for hundreds of years. Morphine was synthesized in 1803, and we are still relying on the same stuff. I'm not criticizing what we do in medicine. We do medicine better than anyone in the world. But that doesn't mean we can't do better."
The difference is ambIT is designed for one specific purpose, whether it's to deliver anesthesia to a region of the body (as opposed to general anesthetic), or antibiotics or chemotherapy. For regional pain control, a catheter is placed at the affected nerve bundle site and then a novocaine-like medicine, or novocaine itself, is infused into the area to block the pain message from reaching the brain, without the sedating effects of a general anesthesia, said Thomas Orsini, chief operating officer and president of Sorenson Medical.
The pump is lightweight, the size of a remote control, runs with standard AA batteries and costs about one-fifth to one-tenth the cost of most infusion pumps. The cost is held down by the simplicity of the device and the fact that it's intended to last 18 months to two years then be thrown away. Still, it has "bells and whistles," including occlusion alarms, audible alerts, a filter to screen out air, and technology to prevent free flow so a patient can't get too much of the medication.
Comments
- Life sentences for juveniles examined 2:20 p.m.
- Matheson may face Dem challenger 2:11 p.m.
- Columbia prof to speak at U. 2:07 p.m.
- Mitchell wants testimony excluded 1:36 p.m.
- Cleveland case expands overseas 1:27 p.m.
- Banks eye tight credit card terms 1:25 p.m.
- Prep girls soccer MVPs named 1:16 p.m.
- Iran accuses hikers of espionage 1:09 p.m.
- Making health care better 1:03 p.m.
- New bishop heads Lufkin LDS Church 1:03 p.m.
- TCU showdown has big implications
- Seniors helped BYU regroup
- Hope for single moms
- Lambert surprisingly tops news
- Bystanders framed for child porn
- Korver and Miles to be evaluated
- TCU 4th in AP poll; U. 16th, Y. 22nd
- Utah Jazz Extra: Whose hot/not
- Newhouse Hotel, an explosive end
- TCU moves into 4th place in BCS
- Gay advocates trek to LDS office
244 - House passes health care bill
212 - Lobo suspended
176 - Cougars crush hapless Cowboys
153 - TCU showdown has big implications
144 - Utah Jazz fall apart against Kings
130 - Thousands protest health bill
106 - Provo company innovating engines
105 - RSL rallies to advance
103 - TCU 4th in AP poll; U. 16th, Y. 22nd
101
NASA's Stardust probe continues to bring new knowledge about the nature...
Today's blog is brought to you by the letter S. That's right, it's...
f you don't have an Xbox 360 and always wanted one, Saturday is your day.
Davis has no offense? I guess having one of the best, if not the best RB in...
As The A-TEAM would of put it, "I LOVE IT WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGETHER." The...
Dick, how is your golf game you haven't mentioned it in ages.
'Too expensive!' Thinking man, healthcare as it is now is too expensive....
I'm so sick of Mitchell's attorneys exploiting the legal system to keep...
Gee, what a shock, something to help the poor trodden down single mothers. I...
It's football, and each team has their chances. i think both will play well....
Alta wasnt even a playoff team without Kealia Ohai!
Leave. Duh. No WMD's. No Osama Bin Laden. No reason to be there. Our...
I enjoyed seeing the old uniforms. Bring them back! Great day for Tampa Bay!




You can be the first to comment on this story.