Treatments | Interventional Pain Management

Intrathecal Therapies

The intrathecal pain pump is another approach to management with pain medications. Not only can pain medications be taken orally, they can also be delivered through a catheter attached to a pump which has been implanted into the side of the abdomen during a simple outpatient procedure. A dose of concentrated pain medication is delivered around the clock directly to the spinal cord, eliminating the usual breakthrough pain common with oral medications. This is advantageous for patients who are unable to tolerate oral medications due to systemic side effects and for treating chronic pain that has not been responsive to medications or interventional procedures. This procedure begins with a trial of a single shot of the medication; and if there are no side effects or reactions to the drug, the pump can be implanted under the skin using a numbing agent and light sedation for patient comfort.