The danger in Pain Pumps: a sad story

Very sad indeed, my heart goes out to her parents as well as my Sympathies.

 

      ...this almost happened to me when I had my double lumbar fusion surgery. My pain levels were over the top, and I had access to the hand pump every 15min. On day three, my wife said that she knew something was not right, and when the 1st shift nurse came in, she took one look and said I was overdosing, and immediately called for help. Several nurses came in, and I remember one of them telling me that they were giving me a shot of "narcan" to reverse the effects of the pain med's. I was in horrible fear of even more pain than I was already in.

     My PCD arrived soon afterwards and he was furious over this, and chewed out one of the floor nurses over it. I saw him again several months later, after I was released from the surgeon's care, and he told me that I came very close to checking out, and that I needed to go back and thank the nurse that caught it. I still remember her name ..."Linda"...and I did go back and thank her while I was in for a checkup.

    Like this story,...mine too!...was also due to not being monitored enough by more than one nurse during the first two days after surgery.

         Thanks for sharing David!

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Since so much of the details of this case are not disclosed due to the lawsuit settlement....I have to wonder what else was going on...

As others mentioned...I've never heard of someone needing that kind of narcotic pain relief for strep throat....

Medical mistakes in hospitals are in the top ten of deaths of people in the U.S....Even though there are absolutely amazing Dr.s, Nurses, and medical staff out there....mistakes happen...people are human...

Not that I condone egregious behavior at all...but I can see where unfortunately things go wrong due to being overworked...understaffed.....

But hopefully from terrible experiences like this...it can bring to light things that need to be changed about the system and help prevent other tragedies.

That is very sad! I wish they could disclose the details though, it leads to all kind of misconstrued ideas. Pain pumps serve a very good purpose in certain situations. Why in the world would it be used for strep? That is odd.

My first personal thought would be that she had a medication reaction based on what was said and she wasnt monitored extensively. However if this was the same oral med administered at the correct dose she may not have been checked on anyway and the outcome would have been similiar, PCA or not.

That of course is by no way based on anything disclosed just my mind running thru logical possibilities. Hopefully, once the case is settled the details will be public.

If I didnt know what I know about these pumps it leaves you thinking is that PCAs are not a good thing in general!

Post Edited (Shell74) : 7/18/2012 7:57:37 PM (GMT-6)

From my own experiences, when I had my open RP surgery in 2008, no pain pump. Nurse came in often, asked my pain levels, and IV'd me what I needed based on how many hours had passed and what my current level was. Worked very well. Was in hospital 4 1/2 days, and as I felt better, needed less and less. Good experience.

When I had my Ileal Conduit By-pass Surgery in 2010, had a pain pump with morphine. X amount goes in on a timed basis, the rest I did with a button. Nurse rarely asked how I was feeling. Was in hospital 5 1/2 days, by day 3 felt like I was being overdosed, would lose track of the button and how often I was using it. Started bad and scary hallucinations, asked, then begged the nurse to remove the pump and to just give me the pain meds as needed. They wouldnt do that, so on my own, started cutting way back on the extra morphine, only then, did I start feeling like I was back in control of my mind. Bad experience.

david

Again, I've had more than 10+ PCAs in my life... I especially wouldn't have made it after the birth of my twins (and having chronic pain) w/out the PCA. It isn't used long term - just a day or two (or, in my last case, 4 days)... then I switched to IV meds and then to oral.

It's not a "free for all" kind of thing. There's a certain amount that gets administered. You have a button to push when you feel extra pain - but that, too, has a max. They give PCAs to kids as young as 4 or 5.

Being on top of your pain after surgery is a HUGE part of healing quicker.

Also... you aren't depending for a nurse to come in - every 1... or 2... or 4... hours to give you IV meds. Nurses get busy w/ other patients, etc... this way, you stay right on top of your pain... and you are in control.

:) --Tina

Its an awful story, I cant help to think of the fact that it's just going to prevent the people that need it from getting it though. Coming from someone who is VERY under-treated.

Good good, I wonder how many of them are in the UK though... after the treatment ive have from doctors i cant see them giving one of those out to people with limbs missing haha.