My husband is having a neurotransmitter implanted into his spinal column. I did not go with him to his doctors appointment and he did not ask many questions. I do know that this is done in two stages , first the wires are inserted into the spinal column, and about 10 days later the transmitter is implanted around the hip area. My nephew had this done 6 years ago and had 10 inch incission along his spinal column and a 6 inch incission on his hip. I would think that this method has improved since then. Anyone had one of know of someone that has. Also the doctor did mention that it would be done under general anesthesia as he does not want his patients to move.
2007-01-07 12:47:41 · 4 answers · asked by vivib 6 in Health ➔ General Health Care ➔ Pain & Pain Management
Yes Just Ducky there are spinal neurotransmitters. There are many web pages on them, they fake out the nerve endings that transmit pain to the brain. However, none of the sites give details as to the actual procedure.
2007-01-07 12:55:46 · update #1
I am having something similar done this Thursday. I am having an Intrathecal Pain Pump implanted, where the catheters will deliver a constant flow of morphine into my spinal column and the nerves around it. I have had all of the other trials done, and none of them gave me any pain relief. I was in a bad auto accident 20 months ago, and have undergone major back surgery, from which I now have severe complications. The neurotransmitter trial did not work for me. I had a trial done for the pain pump that was amost a week long (I was in the hospital for it) and it gave me about 45% pain relief. This was better than none at all, so I (and the doctor) decided this was what was best for me. I would suppose that what I am having is almost exactly like what your husband is having. They will implant the pain pump in my hip with the catheters running to the spinal column. I will have 2 small incisions, one for the pain pump (which will be a little bit bigger than the other) and one by the spinal column to run the catheters to. For this, I will have general anesthesia. My surgery takes 3-4 hours. The reason I will be put out is mainly because of the length of the surgery and also because of how delicate my surgery is (delivering narcotics directly to the nerves). Did your husband have a trial done? I think for the neurotransmitter surgery, it is only done under local anesthesia, because they have to talk to the patient to know if they are getting everything in the right place and once they get there, if you are having pain relief. I'm not sure. I think all doctors do things differently. I do know that the incisions will not be 6" long, no matter what. It is very surprising what they can fit in a little bitty hole these days! Good luck to your husband and I hope this makes him pain free!
2007-01-07 14:10:26 · answer #1 · answered by country girl 006 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I am having a spinal neurotransmitter implant procedure done at the end of the month. There are some web sites that show what is done but really do not explain it. Each doctor is different. Mine is not going to knock me out completely, I will be given a local and some "happy juice" as I call it via IV. The incision are not quite as invasive as they were years ago as the technique has much improved. The most likely scenario is that you will have the wires put in with a battery pack that you control, once your settings are determined, then a permanent transmitter will be implanted about 10 days later with a battery pack. It is not a cure all for the pain, it could reduce it by 50%, but then again it may not work at all.
For those that say there is not such thing, please have your facts right before you accuse the asker of not knowing what they are talking about. And as for a mistyped word, well ya know the saying "no body's perfect", well that apparently includes you to.
2007-01-07 22:10:35 · answer #2 · answered by poppopvc 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i had this done but just the trial, it did not work for me. i was not "cut" open for the wires. i have a friend that goes in yearly to get the batteries changed. i was awake, and had to lay still for at least an hour for the wires to be implanted". it's time consuming and annoying because you have to lay still...would have been great if it worked i can't say what they did, but like i said i only had the wires done with the transmitter i worked manually. that is what your husband will get first to see if it works. good luck
2007-01-07 12:58:53 · answer #3 · answered by debsdignity 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A neurotransmitter is a chemical in the brain like seratonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine, to name a few. What, on earth, are you talking about? You don't implant a neurotransmitter... that's utterly ridiculous. BTW, it's incision... not "incission".
2007-01-07 12:51:55 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 5⤋