Faculty: Richard L. Rauck, MD, FIPP
Chronic pain affects an estimated 100 million adults in the United States. When pain is severe and refractory to conventional medical management, patients are often unable to achieve adequate pain relief, resulting in dire functional and psychosocial consequences. Some of these indivduals are likely to benefit from the intrathecal delivery of analgesics. Over the last 3 decades, the more than 300,000 patients who have received implanted pumps for a variety of indications have helped establish intrathecal therapy as a relatively safe and effective method of drug delivery. Two analgesic agents have been approved for intrathecal use by the US Food and Drug Administration: ziconotide and morphine. Studies suggest that intrathecal therapy may be underutilized owing to poor patient selection, safety concerns, and other systemic barriers.
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