Medtronic Introduces First Patient-Activated Pain Control Device
Minneapolis - Medtronic, Inc. announced that its new patient-activated pain control device is now available in the United States for people with difficult-to-treat chronic pain. A female cancer patient at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center was the first person to receive the Personal Therapy Manager (PTM), which was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The PTM enables patients with SynchroMed II drug pumps to respond to episodes of increased pain by delivering supplemental doses of pain medication pre-prescribed by a physician. Previously, pump patients received a constant dose of pain medication that had been pre-set by a physician using a programmer.
The SynchroMed system is used to treat all types of severe chronic pain by delivering small, controlled amounts of medication to the intrathecal space, the fluid-filled area in the spinal column through which pain signals travel.
"This should help many of those living with chronic pain, including people with debilitating daily pain related to cancer or their cancer treatment, take control of their pain therapy, and significantly enhance their quality of life ," says Dr. Allen Burton, associate professor and section chief, Cancer Pain Management, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
"We already have experience with this type of patient-controlled pain therapy, specifically in people who have undergone surgery and in childbirth. It makes sense that we've found a way to apply those successes to chronic pain control," Burton further states.
The PTM is a hand-held device about the size of a cell phone. Patients use the PTM by pressing a button, which triggers the delivery of a physician-prescribed dose of liquid morphine after the device software verifies that the "lockout interval," or the time during which the patient cannot receive additional doses of medication, has elapsed.
"The Personal Therapy Manager is the first of its kind to give our implantable drug pump patients more control over their own pain relief," says Jake Vander Zanden, vice president and general manager, Global Pain Management, Medtronic Neurological. "This device makes getting medication when you need it more convenient, but has the necessary safeguards to prevent overdosing or overuse."
SOURCE: Medtronic, Inc.