Lane Offers High Tech Solution to Pain After Surgery without Danger of Drugs

Dr. Victor Rodriguez of Lane Regional Medical Center in Zachary has been on a long-term mission to help those suffering from chronic pain without becoming addicted to harmful drugs that can destroy lives.

Now a major technological breakthrough is allowing Dr. Rodriguez and his team to relieve pain with the minimum use of drugs.

The breakthrough is a device that is very similar to a pacemaker.  It is inserted under the skin and wired to the spin where it emits an electric impulse that eliminates pain.  The device is inserted without surgery.

Dr. Rodriguez says the device is a major breakthrough because it shows that areas of the brain controlling pain can be reached without touching the brain.  Pain can be eliminated not only in the spine but in other areas of the body associated with the part of the spine where the device is located, such as the knee.

The device is not useful for pain caused by cancer.

Dr. Rodriguez says that generally speaking pain is a good thing because it alerts the body that something is wrong.  “But there is good pain and bad pain.  Chronic pain is bad pain that serves no useful purpose, and that’s what we address,” he said.

Even more important than pain management is keeping the patient off life-destructive drugs, Dr. Rodriguez believes. “Many patients, perhaps most patients, who have back surgery become addicted to the opiates.  In turn, most of those who become addicted can no longer function successfully in their families and jobs.  It’s a major crisis.”

Dr. Rodriguez stresses that patients who come to his clinic should not come expecting to get a prescription for powerful, life-altering drugs.  That is a last resort, seldom used in his work.  Rather, his goal is to make the patient pain-free without the use of such drugs.

“The opiates make you feel good but only for a short time. Then you need more and more but the effect is less and less. The reason is the brain likes the drug and creates more and more neuro receptors every time the drug is taken.  This means that more of the drug must taken every time, and a person becomes addicted.”

However, with the techniques available at Dr. Rodriguez’s clinic, he strives to allow patients to continue to function normally at home and work.

Dr. Rodriguez, who joined Lane last year, is a graduate of the Ponce School of Medicine and LSU Anesthesiology.  He previously served at the West Jefferson and Methodist hospitals in New Orleans.

For an appointment at DPI Interventional Pain Management, call 225-448-0448.