Intrathecal medication delivery.

This brief review of intrathecal pain medication delivery has emphasized the unusual but useful pharmacology of CSF drug delivery, the new study definitely showing that the method is helpful in cancer pain, and the rare complication of mass formation at the catheter tip. As new medications are developed for intrathecal delivery, this field is likely to expand, especially if a wider range of dorsal horn receptor mechanisms underlying pain processing can be modified. The changes in spinal cord signaling that are induced by chronic pain states are being investigated, and new possibilities for intervention are likely. the availability of a reliable well-understood way of delivering such new therapies by implanted drug pumps will speed the process. Intrathecal morphine for chronic pain has an important role in helping many patients with a wide variety of pain conditions and, as with all pain treatment, is woefully underused.