A new way to give pain medicine after surgery
| Some smart guys decided that if fentanyl patches worked, why not use the same technology with a patient-controlled delivery system --- sort of a fentanyl patch with an on-demand component. We have had for many years patient controlled IV narcotic delivery systems (PCAs), and a transdermal delivery system would theoretically be similar. The FDA has approved the first such device, the Ionsys: |
Source: Blog of Aggravated DocSurg
A friend of mine is a manager at a pharmaceutical company who was excited about this product.
He thought it would replace the IV PCAs (patient controlled anesthesia) that we use.
I informed him that in my practice, most of my large surgeries are done minimally invasive (robotic or laproscopic) and I do not routinely use PCA pumps any longer.
I think among urologists the use of PCA pumps is on the decline.
I thought general surgeons would likely still use PCAs.
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