"DepoDur is good news for people having major surgery and is also a welcome change for physicians," said Gavin Martin, M.D., assistant clinical professor of anesthesiology, Duke University Medical Center. "With DepoDurTM, we can provide effective pain control for patients with fewer cumbersome devices, possibly improving the hospital experience and accelerating their recovery."
Unlike common formulations of morphine that are administered epidurally, DepoDur does not require an indwelling catheter for continuous pain relief. Indwelling catheters are tubes placed in a patient's spine to deliver pain medicine. Such catheters can make it difficult for patients to move around after surgery, can increase the risk of infection and can limit options for administration of anticoagulant (blood thinning) therapy. Another common method to relieve pain after surgery is by delivering the pain medication intravenously through patient-controlled analgesia pumps (IV PCA). Unfortunately, with IV PCA there can be equipment malfunction or patient error, leading to under-
'"/>
Contact: Vilena Katanova
vilena_katanova@nyc.cohnwolfe.com
212-798-9737
Cohn & Wolfe
6-Dec-2004