2 replies to this topic

[Jared's wife]

My husband has a TBI that left him with severe brain damage. He isn't able to move the left side of his body and had severe spasticity in his left arm, left leg, and slight spasticity in the right leg. He can talk but he dosen't speak well and he dosen't have the ability go into detail about how he feels. I am hopeing some of you can help me figure out what is going on.

He has a baclofen pump. He is a very thin man, I can feel all the parts of the pump and the shunt under his skin. We have issues with him being underweight and he has issues with the boney areas of his body. In the past we have struggled with pressure sores on his tail bone and spine. He hasn't had any pressure sores in almost a year now even though he is still thin.

He keeps complaining of lower back pain and points to the area where the catheter goes into his spine. He has a small scar there and I can feel a hard lump in the middle of the scar. Nothing looks different, he hasn't had any swelling or redness. I asked him what kind of pain he is having, muscle pain, bone pain, or skin pain. He says it feels like skin pain.

I don't know what could be going on in there so I wanted to know if it is normal to have pain in this area with the baclofen pump. If you have pain in that area can you discribe it to me? Does anything make it worse/better? Can you offer some suggestons for padding his wheel chair so that area is less likely to be irritated? Any information you may have would be helpful.

He has the pump refilled every month so I'm going to ask the doctor to order an MRI or someting just to see what is going on. Last time he told me granuloma tissue could grow around the catheter and cause pain. My husband has issues with that when he had a feeding tube so this coule be a likely senario. If this is the case the baclfen pump would have to be removed. Can any of you tell me about having one removed?

Thanks!

[Smileyblue]

I cant be of ouch help I'm afraid, but I thought I'd suggest a temporary reprieve.. If it is skin pain, a local anaesthetic cream, available over the counter, would help.. If it doesn't, then you could be sure that it is more than just skin pain..
I hope this helps a bit, although it really is just a temporary solution.. Good luck to you both.. ;-)

[2ndChance]

I'm pretty sure that is not normal. But it does not mean it has to be removed. If it is effective, have the test to make sure the catheter is not kinked. The catheter entry site can be adjusted slightly and/or any scar tissue removed.