To reduce the risk of death among cancer patients, our oncology nurses, physicians and case managers created a program that helps ensure recognition and immediate response. This effort includes medical faculty, resident physicians, nursing case management, the pharmacy, home care and the emergency department. As a result, more patients are surviving neutropenic fever. This program also was selected by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement for presentation to an audience of international health professionals. Tina Diorio, who moves more easily and has more energy after receiving an intrathecal Baclofen pump, visits with Robert J. Bielski, M.D., chief of pediatric orthopaedics.
Spasticity causes muscles to become stiff and resistant to movement.
This makes it dif cult to do the normal activities of daily life and can lead to complications in the joints of the spine, arms and legs. There is no cure for spasticity, but it is usually managed through physical therapy, medications, orthotics, casting or surgery. The intrathecal Baclofen pump is used as an alternative to medications that often have a sedative effect on children. Robert J. Bielski, M.D., chief of pediatric orthopaedics, and Kenneth Silver, M.D., professor and director of pediatric neurology, carefully evaluate children to determine if the intrathecal administration of Baclofen can help them. During the intrathecal Baclofen pump procedure, Andrew Chenelle, M.D., assistant professor of neurological surgery, implants a permanent pump, approximately the size of a hockey puck, and a catheter that runs along the spine.