Chondrolysis: Painful Joint Injury Linked to Use of Pain Pumps

The use of pain pumps to deliver powerful painkilling narcotics directly to shoulders, knees, and other joints following surgery has been associated with a rare but very painful injury called chondrolysis. When joint cartilage dies and leaves bones to grind together, it can mean permanent and severe loss of range of motion and additional procedures to replace the damaged joint.

Many athletes have developed chondrolysis after surgeries to repair injured joints in which pain pumps were used during the rehabilitation period. The use of pain pumps to send potent painkillers directly to the joint after surgery has become a popular treatment option in the past 20 years, but therapy can come with consequences for patients, including chondrolysis.

Lawsuits Seek Compensation From Pain Pump Makers

Numerous medical studies have found pain pumps are likely a cause of chondrolysis and hundreds of injured patients have filed lawsuits seeking financial compensation for their injuries. Lawsuits filed against the manufacturers of pain pumps allege the risks of injury from their use are unreasonable and were known to the manufacturers, who ignored safety study findings, according to a recent New York Times report.

Jurors in Oregon recently awarded nearly $5.5 million to a chondrolysis patient in a lawsuit against a pain pump manufacturer. More than one dozen similar cases are expected to go to trial this year against one of the largest pain pump manufacturers, I-Flow Corp., and others, the Times reports.

In January 2009, a Las Vegas woman filed a federal lawsuit against Stryker Corp. for injuries she claims were caused by the use of a defective pain pump. The plaintiff, Dorothy Vialpando, claims she was injured following a 2006 orthopedic surgery on her shoulder while using one of the company’s pain pumps to recuperate. Her lawsuit claims strict product liability and also accuses Stryker sales representatives of promoting unapproved uses of the products, according to a news report.

FDA Warns of Pain Pump Dangers

Last year, the Food and Drug Administration warned against using pain pumps in joints and asked companies who make the medical devices and local anesthetics they use to discourage doctors from doing so. The FDA has never approved pain pumps for use directly in joints, but doctors are allowed to use approved products for unapproved uses they deem safe. These unapproved uses of pain pumps directly in joints are now linked to chondrolysis and other joint injuries.

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