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Physical Therapy Patient
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BREG Pain Management
Your physician has scheduled you for surgery and one of the items you will be receiving in post-operative recovery is a pain pump unit. This unit puts pain relief in the palm of your hand .... literally. The pain pump is a controlled local anesthetic that is placed directly into the wound site. The unit consists of a small catheter, tube extension and a patient controlled local infusion pump.

When you arrive in recovery, the unit will be attached and ready for you to use whenever you feel is necessary. This unit will go home with you and can be used every 4-6 hours as needed for pain or whenever you feel is necessary. Keep in mind that you have 12-13 full depressions of the blue button, so make them last.

Removing Catheter
Once the unit is empty (usually 2-3 days), or per the physician's instructions, the catheter needs to be removed. The removal should be by a licensed health care provider or by the patient per the physician's orders.

Here are some directions for the removal of the catheter:

  1. Wash hands.
  2. Remove any dressing and throw away.
  3. You should be able to see the catheter. Remove any pieces of tape and notice that the catheter is NOT sutured in place and should not be painful to remove.
  4. Take a few deep breaths and pull gently on the catheter, it should easily slide out of the incision site. If resistance is encountered or if the tube stretches excessively without releasing, then STOP pulling and contact your physician. They may wish to remove the catheter themselves at the office.
  5. Apply a sterile gauze pad over the tiny hole that the catheter was removed from and hold slight pressure for a few minutes. Cover the incision with a sterile bandage and record the time and date that the catheter was removed.
  6. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the pain care unit, please contact the attending physician.