Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2023 Oct 14;2(4):100284.
doi: 10.1016/j.inpm.2023.100284. eCollection 2023 Dec.

An unusual intrathecal baclofen pump failure thirteen months after implantation

Kevin E Vorenkamp  1 , Savan H Gandhi  2 , Andrew S Manolides  1 , Daniel T Warren  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

An unusual intrathecal baclofen pump failure thirteen months after implantation

Kevin E Vorenkamp et al. Interv Pain Med. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Objective: To report a case of intrathecal pump failure following months of diminishing benefit from intrathecal baclofen, and to heighten awareness that intrathecal pump malfunction can occur without precipitating events.

Case report: A 40 year-old woman with multiple sclerosis and spastic paraplegia developed worsening spasticity after ten months of therapeutic stability with intrathecal baclofen. After other causes were pursued, this was discovered to be due to pump malfunction only thirteen months after implantation. After pump interrogation and discussion with the manufacturer the pump was replaced urgently and the patient regained therapeutic benefit and had no further complications.

Conclusions: We present herein what we believe to be the first report of a verified pump malfunction resulting in disruption of intrathecal baclofen delivery within thirteen months of implantation. Due to the possible severity of acute baclofen withdrawal, the pump was replaced urgently after diagnosis. Because of the patient's and her healthcare providers' vigilance, she experienced no adverse events. Healthcare providers are encouraged to acknowledge the possibility of intrathecal pump malfunction in similar scenarios, ensuring patient safety while systematically examining the underlying problem.

Keywords: Baclofen; Baclofen withdrawal; Intrathecal drug delivery; Intrathecal pump; Intrathecal pump failure; Multiple sclerosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Timeline of Intrathecal Baclofen Delivery (in months after initial implantation).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Coffey R.J., Cahill D., Steers W. Intrathecal baclofen for intractable spasticity of spinal origin: results of a long-term multicenter study. J Neurosurg. 1993;78(6):226–232. - PubMed
    1. Ordia J.I., Fischer E., Adamski E., Chagron K.G., Spatz E.L. Continuous intrathecal baclofen infusion by a programmable pump in 131 consecutive patients with severe spasticity of spinal origin. Neuromodulation. 2002;5:16–24. - PubMed
    1. Gilmartin R., Bruce D., Storrs B.B., et al. Intrathecal baclofen for management of spastic cerebral palsy: multicenter trial. J Child Neurol. 2000;15:71–77. - PubMed
    1. Meythaler J.M., DeVivo M.J., Hadley M. Prospective study on the use of bolus intrathecal baclofen for spastic hypertonia due to acquired brain injury. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 1996;77:461–466. - PubMed
    1. Nance P., Schryvers O., Schmidt B., et al. Intrathecal baclofen therapy for adults with spinal spasticity: therapeutic efficacy and effect on hospital admissions. Can J Neurol Sci. 1995;22:22–29. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources