Breaking through the pain
Use of new procedure speeds recovery time, provides non-narcotic pain relief
By Paula Felps

As part of its mission to stay on the cutting edge of medicine, Health Central Women's Care has incorporated the use of the ON-Q PainBuster into many of its surgical procedures. Dr. Alan Greenberg, who practices at the Frisco HCWC location, said he has relied upon the ON-Q procedure for about four years, and commonly uses it for cesarean births.

"I liked it right away because of the way the patients reacted," he said.
"They love it! Especially those who have had C-sections before. They can't believe the difference."

The ON-Q PainBuster delivers non- narcotic pain relief to patients after surgery. Its most common use at HCWC is for cesarean section births, but it is also used for hysterectomies and mastectomies - or any "open" surgery
"We do the procedure as we're closing - you just put a tiny catheter into an incision, and it provides continuous pain medication," Dr. Greenberg explained. "It stays in a few days, then we pull it out."

The device consists of a small balloon pump that is filled with a local anesthetic.
The catheter directs the anesthetic into the surgical site, providing targeted pain- numbing medication to that specific area. The ON-Q is completely portable and can be carried in a pouch or attached to the patient's clothing until it is time for it to be removed.

"Before there weren't any options like this," Dr. Greenberg said. "Basically you could inject numbing medicine into the area, but there wasn't anything like this.
Once we take it out, and they realize what kind of pain they still have, the patients really appreciate having had this in for the first few days after surgery.''
The procedure allows patients to get back on their feet faster, which decreases incidents of blood clots and pneumonia Patients who were given only a general anesthetic prior to their surgery will be on their feet in a few hours.

"It depends on the patient and the type of pain medication used dotting surgery but everyone gets up by the next day. It's a great way to speed recovery while eliminating pain."

The use of the ON-Q PainBuster also sidesteps many of the side effects often associated with narcotics, which include nausea, drowsiness, constipation, difficulty breathing and even addiction. Dr. Green- berg said that the advantages of the ON-Q far out-weigh the benefits of the narcotics that previously were used.
"More doctors are starting to use it and I think we'll see more of this type of thing in the future," he said. "All of our doctors are constantly attending conferences to see what's new in medicine so we can deliver that to our patients. This is one of those things that, once discovered, we all started using. it's made a big difference for us and for our patients."