The shoulder joint is a complex combination of bones, ligaments, tendons and muscles. Also known as the glenohumeral joint, the shoulder joint is comprised of the socket of the shoulder blade and the ball of the arm bone. These two bones are covered in articular cartilage, a smooth white tissue that allows the joint to move smoothly. If this cartilage is damaged or destroyed, the bones begin to grind against each other. The resulting friction results in severe pain and a significant loss of strength and mobility.

If you used a pain pump after joint surgery and are now experiencing severe pain at the surgery site, you need legal help -- and you need it now. You may have been permanently harmed by use of the pain pump, and that means you're facing additional surgeries or a costly shoulder replacement.

The MedLaw Legal Team of Janet, Jenner & Suggs, LLC can help you obtain money to pay for those surgeries, and also help you get compensation for the permanent injury you've suffered. Fill out our online contact form or call us at 1-888-4-MED-LAW for an evaluation of your case.

Why are you experiencing pain in your shoulder or other joint following surgery? Simply put, you may have developed Postarthroscopic Glenohumeral Chondrolysis (PAGCL). Chondrolysis is a progressive loss of cartilage. Glenohumeral chondrolysis is loss of cartilage in the shoulder joint.

PAGCL causes significant pain and can lead to severe limitations on movement. Symptoms of PAGCL include:

• Increased stiffness in the shoulder
• Shoulder pain (either when in motion or at rest)
• Clicking shoulder
• Popping shoulder
• Grinding shoulder
• Shoulder weakness
• Decreased range of motion in the shoulder

Recent studies have revealed that PAGCL can be caused by the use of pain pumps, also known as intra-articular pumps or pain balls, after arthroscopic shoulder surgery. To better manage the pain, a disposable pain pump is often used to introduce pain medication directly into the shoulder joint through a catheter. The catheter is a tiny, flexible plastic tube that is implanted in the shoulder and stays in place for two to three days after surgery to deliver pain medication, usually bupivacaine. Bupivaciane is often used with epinephrine.

Although pain pumps have been used for years as a solution to pain management, many patients who have been given these pumps after join surgery have developed PAGCL.

Why has this happened?

It is believed that manufacturers advised physicians to insert the pump's catheter directly into the joint space, or intra-articular area, even though neither the local anesthetics used in the pumps, such as bupivacaine, nor the elastomeric infusion devices themselves, had been approved or cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for this off-label use.

In fact, in November 2009 the FDA issued a warning about the danger of PAGCL. The agency emphasized it had "not cleared any infusion devices with an indication for use in intra-articular infusion of local anesthetics."

PAGCL is a debilitating ailment, which can be far worse than a patient's initial condition. This progressive disorder has no known cure or effective treatment. Patients begin showing symptoms within two months of surgery, and PAGCL is usually diagnosed within a median of 8.5 months after the use of the pain pumps. In about half of the reports of PAGCL received by the FDA, victims had to undergo arthroscopy or arthroplasty (joint replacement) to repair the damage.

If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of a defective shoulder pain pump, you may be entitled to compensation for the additional surgeries you'll need, as well as money for other expenses related to your injury. Contact the MedLaw Legal Team of Janet, Jenner & Suggs, LLC by filling out our contact form to discuss your cartilage damage due to Postarthroscopic Glenohumeral Chondrolysis (PAGCL) following shoulder arthroscopic surgery.