The catheter facilitates pain control by infusing local anesthetic onto the nerves that feed your shoulder and arm/hand. The pumps can be disposable or reusable (hospitals or surgery centers may use either or both). They are typically used for 2 or so days then removed. The beauty of them is that you typically go home pain free that day.
Some places only offer a single injection which can't be made to last as long an infusion but are still better than nothing. The trouble with single injections is that when they wear off (usually early AM when the patient is asleep) it seems like throwing a switch to turn on all the pain, all at once. Of course, the pain was slowly happening while the patient was asleep but the train was leaving the station for quite awhile before reaching the waking threshold.
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Originally Posted by Zeke
Where I went they are down on drips and big on blocks. You can't take either home with you. Will that work for outpatient? RCP is usually outpatient.
What do I know? Just one out of many.
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