Which patients are potential candidates for intrathecal drug delivery?
Intrathecal drug delivery is appropriate to consider in patients with severe pain refractory to systemic medications, those with intolerable side effects from systemic medications, and those who fail to respond to less invasive interventions. A lack of significant psychosocial abnormalities is also an important consideration. While most practitioners agree that it should be considered for patients with cancer-related pain that meet these criteria, more controversy exists in the general medical community regarding whether it is appropriate for patients who have chronic nonmalignant pain.
