One of my patients has had persistent post-thoracotomy pain following a RULobectomy in 9/05. She has been on gabapentin and narcotics; tried nerve root blocks (with short-lived results) and is not a drug-seeker. She has now undergone a dorsal rhizotomy (confirmed by path of the dorsal root ganglion) and after a 1-week improvement is now having even more pain.
What do you usually do for these cases of persistent post-thoracotomy pain that extend for months and years?
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At least your are sympathetic to her condition and have not labeled her a drug seeker. A lot of us patients who have had thoracotomies have pain for years after, and we get labeled drug seekers for it. Thank you for caring and seeking more information and for not just kicking her out. There's research regarding accupuncture, TENS units, both being successful, although not in my case. Keep searching.
I was misdiagnosed with lung cancer one year ago and survived a mediastinectomy, VATS, and a right axial open thoracotomy. I have acute persistent pain in my right breast and along the six inch incision at the base of my breast. I have tried gabapentin, Lyrica, and Topimate. I am on my third round of corticosteroid injections into the intercostals. I am reluctant to use narcotics, but if the steroids do not work, I am at a loss. I cannot move my right arm without pain. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
my 73yr old mother had an upper lobectomy on her left lung in Sept'07. She had chest tubes inserted on the right side due to rt lung collapsing. She has alot of sharp pain in that area & no one can find what is causing it or anything to give her any relief. She is currently taking Hydrocodone, tylenol3, gabupentin, wears a Fentinol patch as well as a lidoderm patch & Still is so much pain she is bed ridden most of the time. We have tried accupunture, TENS unit, as well as the drugs. She is not a person to take pills, in fact before this she would very seldom even take an asprin for a headache. Any help or ideas on how to help her get back some of her quality of life she had before the surgery would be a blessing, as she was very active before this happened.
Everyone, try Traumanil. My doctor and I had been searching for a few years for something that helps, and I mean every pill or med you can think of. It is homeopathic, which disappointed me when I saw that, but I tried it, and it stopped pain that would usually send me to the hospital. It just came out. Its a gel. It is absolutely amazing stuff.
I have read the history of my blog, it is very disturbing to know that your client has failed to recover from the pain in spite of multiple medications and processes it has undergone. Hope your symptoms improve soon.
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