Shoulder Pain Pump Pain

March 10, 2011, 8:00AM. By Jane Mundy

Medina, OHJan has had surgery on both his shoulders: he was given a shoulder pain pump on his right shoulder (several years ago), but just before surgery on his left, Jan's orthopedic surgeon said he wouldn't get the pump this time "because we are having problems with them." Jan's left shoulder is fine today, but he has suffered extreme pain in his right shoulder for a number of years. Coincidence?

"I had my first shoulder surgery several years ago," says Jan. "The surgeon cleaned my rotator cuff and fixed my bicep tendon because that was shredded. I used a sledgehammer at work a lot and that's what pretty much did me in—at the age of 48.

"The surgery went well and I went home the same day; in fact I was an outpatient for all three surgeries. Anyway, I was going to therapy after the first surgery but I walked up steps and my leg gave out so I fell on my shoulder—just my luck—and I was back in the hospital. (I had a back problem at the time and found out that a nerve was blocked and two discs blew out in my back, which caused my leg to give way.)

"Three months later my shoulder was still hurting so I had an MRI. It showed that I had torn what had just been repaired. I was given a shoulder pain pump with the second surgery on my right shoulder—my surgeon told me that it was an I-Flow On-Q PainBuster Pump."

(Several companies that produce shoulder pain pumps are also facing lawsuits, filed by patients who were given the pump catheters inside the joint space, or intra-articular placement. Those companies include Stryker, DJO Inc., I-Flow, BREG Inc., and others, and they are marketed under the brand names Stryker Pain Pump, Accufuser Plus, Donjoy Pain Control Device, and I-Flow On-Q PainBuster Pump.)


Increasingly, the use of these higher-flow pumps placed inside the joint became almost commonplace, but has resulted in PAGCL, which is an extremely painful and debilitating condition that requires constant medication and treatment. Jan believes he may have developed PAGCL and he may be facing a lifetime of pain. Jan has also been given the option of exploratory surgery…

"I had the second surgery almost two years ago and to this day my shoulder still kills me," says Jan. "Unfortunately I'm not allowed to have another MRI on my shoulder because I have the neural stimulator implanted in my back—it's been a bad three years and I was retired at 48 years old. I asked the doctor if the pain would ever go away. 'I wish I could tell you that it will go away,' he said.

"I had surgery on my left shoulder in December 2010. Part of my collarbone had to be cleaned up and lots of bone spurs removed—it was pretty painful the next day. But the pain subsided about three weeks after my surgery. This time I was given painkillers—Vicodin and Percocet—and no pain pump.

"I knew about the shoulder pain pump side effects after my first surgery. My orthopedic surgeon said that particular pain pump couldn't have caused any damage so they gave me another one. But now they don't use it anymore! And even though I fell down the steps and hurt my right shoulder again, it isn't right; I shouldn't be in so much pain anymore. I've had friends who had shoulder surgery and they didn't have the pain pump—they are fine.

"I'm scheduled for another cortisone shot but that is only short-lived. I've been through so much for the last three years that I'm not willing to have an exploratory surgery. It is so hard to live with this pain and now I'm addicted to painkillers.

"When I went online and typed 'shoulder pain,' I found so many people who are having the same problems as me—I was surprised. And it's crazy why these shoulder pain pumps are still on the market. I'm really angry with the manufacturers for not recalling them."

People who had arthroscopic surgery are now questioning whether shoulder pain pumps should have been used at all. And some people like Jan may be worse off now than before they had surgery; their one recourse is a lawsuit.