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Penn Medicine Combats Opioid Epidemic With Device That Pumps Away The Pain

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Surgical pain is often blamed for part of the opioid addiction epidemic in the United States.

Instead of a patient being given prescriptions for things like percocet, Penn Medicine has developed a new way to control post-surgical pain with what doctors are calling a pain pump.

Four months after shoulder replacement surgery, 77-year-old Janet Daddi who had arthritis is finally able to use her arms without pain.

Daddi says she had a quick and easy recovery which is something you don't usually hear after shoulder surgery.

Normally patients experience pain as they recover from the surgery says Dr. David Glaser with Penn Orthopaedics.

"Women compare it to natural child birth, men compare it to kidney stones," says Dr. Glaser. "It can be pretty painful especially at night."

Dr. Glaser says pain from shoulder surgery was traditionally managed with narcotics, but because of the side effects and addiction concerns doctors have found a better solution.

"We are using a special pump that administers the anesthetic to the local area, numbing that area for an extended period of time," explains Glaser.

The pain pump directs medications to the surgery site through a catheter in the neck.

"If it's placed in a certain way, they can still use their hands, they can still be active," says Dr. Glaser. "But yet they don't have the pain from the surgery."

"It's a wonderful thing," says Janet.

Janet, who had the pain pump for the first few days after surgery says the surgical scar is her only reminder.

Three years ago, she had her other shoulder replaced and was given narcotics which she didn't like and she said the recovery from that was slow and painful.

Janet says with her recent surgery, the pump made it a much better experience.

"This was like nothing, a walk in the park," she said. "It was so different, it's like night and day."

And Janet was quickly able to comb her hair which was a movement that had been a struggle for her before.

Dr. Glaser is also doing some of the shoulder replacements with just local anesthetic instead of general anesthesia.

That allows patients to be awake and also helps them recover faster with fewer medications.

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