Category Archives for Pain Management

Recall of Toradol Pain Medication

There is currently a voluntary recall of the pain medication I have grown to rely on – Toradol (ketorolac tromethamine) – when I go to the emergency room to get a bit of relief when I can no longer bear a pain flare up. Toradol only helps me when I get it by IV or direct injection combined with an opiate pain medication. And for me ‘help’ means it gets my pain back to what I now characterize as ‘normal’ levels, or on a general pain measurement scale down to about a four.

If you have never heard of it before, Toradol is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). It is used for the short-term treatment of moderate to severe pain. It works by reducing the production of hormones that cause inflammation. This helps to decrease swelling, pain, or fever. Unfortunately for me, the pill form does very little to reduce my pain but causes me significant stomach irritation so a trip to the emergency room to get an IV drip of Toradol has become my proxy happy place.

If you rely on Toradol injection for pain relief I hope this recall does not affect you. That being said, here’s the press release that was posted by the FDA

Hospira, Inc., (NYSE: HSP) has announced a voluntary recall of ketorolac tromethamine injection, USP in the United States and Singapore due to potential particulate. The presence of particulate has been confirmed through a customer report of visible, floating particulate identified in glass fliptop vials. The particulate was identified as calcium-ketorolac crystals. Multiple lots are impacted by this recall; refer to the addendum for product list and lot information.

…lots were distributed from February 2013 to December 2014 in the United States and from January 2014 to July 2014 in Singapore. Hospira has not received reports of any adverse events associated with this issue for these lots to date. Hospira has initiated an investigation to determine the root cause and corrective and preventive actions.

Anyone with an existing inventory of the recalled lots should stop use and distribution, and quarantine the product immediately. This recall is being carried out to the medical facility/retail level. Customers who have further distributed the recalled product should notify any accounts or additional locations which may have received the recalled product and instruct them if they have redistributed the product to notify their accounts, locations or facilities to the medical facility/retail level. Hospira has notified its direct customers via a recall letter and is arranging for impacted product to be returned to Stericycle in the United States. For additional assistance, call Stericycle at 1-888-345-4680 between the hours of 8am to 5pm ET, Monday through Friday. Customers outside the United States should work with their local Hospira offices to return the product per the local recall notification

Read the complete release: http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm433857.htm

 

Lisa Fischer – How Can I Ease The Pain – Music Video (1991)

Pain Clinic #1

I went to the pain clinic on Friday.

I can say that so casually now.

It has become a necessary part of my life. The pain specialists make sure I’m getting the right level of medications for pain management. They assess my condition to determine what procedures might help to reduce my pain. They are really good at communicating technical details in a way that’s easy to understand and setting my expectations. Most importantly, they quieted the doubters (the insurance company, my family doctor/primary care physician, and other specialists) who questioned, for different reasons, why and how it was possible that I could be in so much pain based on my initial misdiagnosis and even now with what my surgeon identified.

Having pain specialists as part of the team of doctors treating me has also become important to my friends and family. They are more comfortable with my treatment plan now that I have this extra level of care. When my pain spikes to unbearable levels my friends and family ask if I should call the pain specialists to have my pain medications adjusted. They ask when my next appointment at the pain clinic is scheduled if they think I need support. And they ask if the pain specialists agree with my surgeon’s opinions about how to move forward with treating my condition.

At Friday’s appointment I saw the doctor I met during my first visit last summer– I like her a lot. She adjusted my medications to help with my night time pain and the high blood pressure I now have because of my pain. Then she talked to me about the procedure I have scheduled for later this week. This procedure will help my surgeon determine if the only surgery known to be able to correct the condition I have might help or hurt me further because my illness is rare, but my case is more complicated than most documented cases.

The doctor outlined the possible outcomes for the procedure and she set my expectations. I could end up having a major pain flare up after the procedure and it may take weeks to see any positive results– if any at all. If my pain is not relieved then the surgical option will be taken off the table because the anticipated outcomes for my post-operative quality of life are very poor. The upside if this procedure fails is that the pain clinic may be able to provide some minimally invasive treatments to help me cope better long-term.

My situation may not be ideal, but I feel very fortunate to have access to this clinic and such a caring team of doctors.

Today I leave you with Joan Armatrading singing about physical pain of a very different nature than mine.

Joan Armatrading – Physical Pain