In reading the article, “Intrathecal Pumps Risky in Patients With Cancer Pain” (Pain Medicine News January/February 2017, page 14), it occurred to me that they were implanting intrathecal pumps in their patients too late in the disease process. When I first started [my career], I implanted a patient who, it later became clear, was too ill from her cancer for an intrathecal pump. The pump implantation under general anesthesia weakened her, and despite successful implantation and no
FEBRUARY 22, 2017