My Oscar after surgery. How does it work? A neurosurgeon implants the pump (about the size of a computer mouse) into your childs abdomen on one side near the hip bone. Joined to that pump is a long tube which is inserted into the space surrounding your childs spinal cord. We use a programmer (a very small computer) to tell the pump how much medicine to give. The programmer uses telemetry (similar to radio waves) to tell the pump what to do. ITB-2 RCH KHI ITB-4 RCH KHI See pictures 2 and 4. How does the baclofen get in the pump? On the face of the middle of the pump there is a silicon port (opening). A long, thin needle is used to inject the baclofen into this port. See picture 3. The baclofen will last from 1 month to 6 months depending on the dose your child is receiving. When your child needs their pump refilled, an appointment will be made for you in the Developmental Medicine Department to see the clinical nurse consultant (CNC) and your baclofen doctor. Your child will have local anaesthetic cream put on the skin over the pump which will numb the area where the needle goes in. When the cream is used, most children do not feel pain from the needle, although some react to the pressure of the needle going through the skin.The procedure takes about half an hour. ITB-3 RCH KHI How will baclofen work for my child? Your doctors cannot predict exactly how baclofen will work for your child as every child is different. Every child has different goals for the therapy and every child responds differently. If your child has had a successful baclofen trial we do know baclofen will reduce some tightness in your childs muscles, but we cannot predict exactly how it will work. Most parents of children who already have the baclofen pump, report very positive results and are happy they had the pump implanted. Important considerations If your child needs an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scan you must tell the Medical imaging staff and baclofen team as soon as your MRI appointment has been booked (call your baclofen nurse). The MRI machine can stop the baclofen pump from working and the baclofen team must be there during the scan to check the pump. The pump will beep when the battery is about to go flat or if the pump is close to running out of baclofen. If you hear beeping you must contact the baclofen team as soon as possible (see fact sheet ITB 4 - When things go wrong). The battery in the pump has a life of 5-7 years. This means your child will need another operation in about 5-7 years to replace the pump (if you decide to continue with the treatment). If your child needs to have surgery after the pump is implanted, it is important to tell the surgeon that Monopolar cautery can interfere with the pump program. Ask the surgeon to contact the baclofen team for more information. Key points to remember Baclofen works differently for every child. Your doctors cannot predict exactly how it will work for your child. Once implanted, your child will need a repeat appointment at the RCH about every 1-6 months so the pump can be refilled. There are important factors to be aware of if your child is going to get a pump. You need to know these so you know when you need to call a doctor about the pump. (see factsheet FAQ) For more information Intrathecal Baclofen booklet ITB booklet May2010 (PDF, 0.5MEG) Fact sheet Intrathecal baclofen 1: Introduction Fact sheet Intrathecal baclofen 2: The ITB trial Fact sheet Intrathecal baclofen 4: Complications Fact sheet Intrathecal baclofen 5: FAQ Fact sheet Intrathecal baclofen - pictures Department of Developmental Medicine Scopescopevic.org.au not for profit organisation supporting people with disability. Cerebral palsy support networkcpsn.info Medtronic - company that makes the baclofen pumps
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 19:40:36 +0000
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