Orange County Register

NEWS

A newly published medical report warns doctors not to use pumps such as those made by I-Flow of Lake Forest to deliver local anesthetic and the vasoconstrictor epinephrine into shoulder joints after surgery, because that can cause the cartilage to disintegrate.

I-Flow says the epinephrine, pumped to the inside of the joint, is a likely culprit – not the On-Q pump itself.

Lawyers in Alabama and Oregon have filed lawsuits against pain-pump makers, including I-Flow, and are seeking more plaintiffs.

The suits are based on research such as that included in an article in this month’s issue of the American Journal of Sports Medicine. It says that in a study of 19 such shoulder operations, the cartilage of 12 of the shoulder joints suffered permanent and painful deterioration.

Orlando Rodriguez, vice president of marketing at I-Flow, says the company has warned doctors since 2003 not to use its pain pumps with epinephrine, which constricts blood vessels. Also, in joint surgery the pain pumps are more appropriately used to deliver local anesthetic at the incision, near the joint, or to block the nerve leading to the joint – rather than inside the joint, Rodriguez says.

About a third of I-Flow’s pain pumps are used in orthropedic surgery, he says. They’re more commonly used to deliver local anesthetic to incisions in major surgery, he says. I-Flow was the subject of an “Inside Innovation” column in May.

The other major manufacturer of pain pumps is the Stryker Corp., based in Kalamazoo, Mich.

“These devices have been used on thousands of patients nationwide, and based on our findings, hundreds appear to be at risk for this complication which results in severe pain, debilitating stiffness and eventual joint replacement surgery for many of those affected,” said Dr. Charles Beck, an orthopedic surgeon and senior author of the study, in a press release. “We sent the results of our study to the manufacturers more than two years ago, but their response has so far been minimal to non-existent. It is time to get the word out and stop these devices from ruining any more lives.”

The law firm Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, based in Montgomery, Ala., has set up a Web site to seek plaintiffs who believe they were harmed by a pain pump. Firmani and Associates of Seattle is also seeking additional plaintiffs for lawsuits filed in U.S. District Court in Oregon.

(Photo above: I-Flow CEO Don Earhart with an ON-Q pump. Register photo by Michael Goulding)

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