FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 30, 1998
CONTACT: Deia Lofendo, (847) 692-9500, [email protected]
Morphine Nerve Paste Reduces Lumbar Surgery Post-Operative Pain
The application of a morphine-based analgesic paste to the exposed dura and nerve roots during lumbar decompression surgery provides immediate and long-term relief in post-operative pain. Results of this research will be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) on Monday, October 5, 1998, in Seattle, Washington.
This study marks the first time a randomized, double-blind study was performed to evaluate the efficacy of a morphine-based analgesic paste in the control of pain following lumbar surgery. Investigators will present the three month follow-up data on 60 patients who have undergone elective lumbar decompression surgery and received either an active or placebo analgesic paste.
"We are very excited about this research because the paste has been shown not only to alleviate post-operative pain for up to six weeks following surgery, but to improve patient gratification, reduce the stress of surgery and dramatically reduce the need for post-operative narcotics," said Nicholas Theodore, MD, a senior resident at Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona.
The most common decompressive surgery to relieve chronic back pain is a laminectomy. This surgery involves the removal of the lamina -- the posterior bony portion of the vertebra -- as well as the attached ligaments that cause compression of the spinal sac and nerve roots.
Persistent pain following decompressive laminectomies for ruptured discs or stenosis is relatively frequent. However, when the morphine-based paste composed of Avitene, Depo+medrol, Amicar, and Duramorph, is applied to the spinal sac and nerve roots during decompression surgery, post-operative pain is significantly reduced and, in 97 percent of the patients, completely eliminated.
"The positive results of this paste are an important breakthrough to spine surgery," said neurosurgeon R. John Hurlbert, MD, PhD, Professor of Neurosurgery at Foothills Hospital, University of Calgary, and co-author of this study. "When applied to the epidural space, these medications bind to receptors ether locally or within the central nervous system and modulate the perception of pain. Normally, such medications would be absorbed and activated within a few hours. However, because of the microfibrillar collagen, Avitene, used in the paste, the morphine is released over a period of days and weeks."
Charles W. Needham, MD, Professor of Neurosurgery at Yale University College of Medicine, and inventor of the analgesic paste said, "This research is a stepping stone and something that we hope to apply to other surgical procedures. It is our hope that this morphine-based analgesic paste will become the gold standard for post-operative pain relief."
For more information on this study and others being presented at the 1998 CNS Annual Meeting, please visit the online CNS Press Room located in the Virtual Exhibit Hall at http://server400.aans.org/VEH/
The Congress of Neurological Surgeons, founded in 1951, is a professional medical association of nearly 4,200 members devoted to the advancement of neurological surgery. Neurological surgery is the medical specialty concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of disorders affecting the brain, spine and peripheral nerves.
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