and provide days of extended relief — all while decreasing the need
for post-op opioid prescriptions.
While the benefit of having a guaranteed means of extending the
relief from a nerve block can't be understated, there are other consid-
erations that factor into the decision to send patients home with a
continuous catheter and pain pump as opposed to relying on a single-
shot block.
"There's the increased cost of using the catheter, the procedure
itself takes a little bit longer to perform, and there's the setup and
equipment that the patient has to carry around," points out Dr.
Dizdarevic.
Catheter migration can also be an issue. "The catheter displacement
rate is between 20% and 30%," says Dr. Hutchins. "You may achieve a
great catheter placement initially, placing it in the perfect spot, but it
can move over time to where the patient stops receiving the numbing
effects of the analgesic."
Unlike error-prone designs of previous generations of pumps —
which surgeons were reluctant to send patients home with due to
concerns about leaks, kinks and failure — today's pumps are durable,
user-friendly and, of course, effective. Patients appreciate receiving
pumps that let them self-administer a bolus of medication, a simple
benefit that helps them feel like they're regaining control of their own
care after relinquishing it on the day of surgery.
Advanced pain pumps give providers confidence to administer
denser blocks. They also let patients "top themselves off" if post-op
pain becomes unbearable or reduce the infusion rate if they don't like
the feeling of numbness at the surgical site.
3. Nerve freezing
Cryoanalgesia involves positioning a probe to target a nerve in the
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