A Case Study

The Unique Value of Pentec Health's Specialty Infusion Service

LG was born with hypoxia cerebral palsy. At age 5, she had an intrathecal infusion pump implanted to deliver Baclofen to treat her severe spasticity. This was 14 years ago and there were very few in-home providers equipped to treat these patients, so she was going to the local Children’s Clinic for her monthly pump refills. This was a tremendous hardship for the family, as transportation was difficult and required an entire day off work for her mother.

After a year of this burden, LG was referred to Pentec Health for care. We secured the necessary approvals from the insurance company and began taking care of LG at home. The same Pentec Health nurse cared for LG for the next 12 years.

It is standard practice for Pentec Health nurses to perform thorough assessments at every visit and report any changes to the primary care physician. On one particular visit, after LG had been a patient for nearly 4 years, the Pentec Health nurse noticed a big change in her spasms and her sleeping pattern. We notified the physician immediately and he ordered studies to see if the catheter was still working properly. The studies found nothing wrong. We performed a refill of the pump and found that the amount of drug in the reservoir was different than it should have been. The problem appeared to be with the pump itself and the physician decided to schedule LG for surgery to replace the pump and catheter. Both she and her mother were very upset about having to go through this, since a new pump was put in just a year earlier and the recovery was extremely difficult.

The Pentec Health team decided to evaluate LG for an entire day to see if anything else could be causing the problem. The nurse stayed with LG throughout the school day, doing everything with her. She did not appear to have any problems while at school. However, over a 5-hour period while at home, she began having more spasms. Why the sudden change? After hours of direct observation throughout the day and in the home, the cause turned out to be a new doll she had gotten for Christmas. The doll had a strong magnet inside and the way LG held it, put the magnet in close proximity to the implanted pump and interfered with its operation. Magnet removed, problem solved! No surgery required!

This simple act of devotion and commitment to our patient, and our ability to interact with them in a natural setting, enabled Pentec Health to save LG and her mother the anguish of another surgery and the insurance company 10’s of thousands of dollars paying for a needless procedure.

At Pentec Health, we understand the unique position we are in to interact with our patients in the comfort of their homes and how important it is to assess the whole situation. LG is still doing well and recently graduated from high school; and yes, our nurse was there.