The patient had knee replacement surgery and has a local infusion pump to provide a local anesthetic to the surgical site

Question

The patient puts on the call light and complains that pain at the site is more intense than it has ever been and is getting worse. The nurse checks the site and finds that the dressing is damp but intact. The infusion pump is pumping, and there is medication in the bag. The most probable cause of the problem might be the: a. catheter may be clogged.
b. pump may be releasing too much drug into the site.
c. catheter may be displaced.
d. patient may be exaggerating the pain.

Answer 1

C
Assess the surgical dressing and the site of catheter insertion. The dressing should be dry and intact. Determine whether the catheter is properly placed. If the catheter is clogged, infusion of medication will stop. Pain levels will increase but the dressing will be dry, and the pump should alarm. If the pump is releasing too much medication, the nurse should expect to see symptoms of local anesthetic adverse reaction. It is not the patient's responsibility to convince the nurse that he has pain; it is the nurse's responsibility to believe the patient.