BOSTON & SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 11, 2005--When Dr. Peter J. Bregman performs surgery on a podiatry patient today, he attaches a small, microchip-controlled ambIT(R) infusion pump to a thin tube that bathes the nerves leading to the patient's foot in anesthetic. His patients stay awake during surgery involving an extremely sensitive area, yet remain completely pain-free. After surgery, the pain pump -- which hangs from a belt pack and runs on two AA batteries -- stays with the patient to ensure a comfortable recovery at home.
Bregman is pioneering this new pain-control technique for podiatry surgery in Massachusetts because it brings a variety of medical benefits, he said. Unlike the sledgehammer of general anesthesia, this new technique delivers a local anesthetic precisely to targeted, limb-specific nerves, providing profound pain relief by blocking signals to the brain but leaving the patient fully conscious.
