Pain treatment with ziconotide and baclofen in a case of spasticity associated with neuropathic pain

This study presents the clinical case of a patient with paraparesis, subjected for a long period of time to treatment with intrathecal baclofen and morphine to control spasticity and neuropathic pain, resulting from spinal cord injury due to road trauma. After several years of treatment the pain was not controlled with high doses of intrathecal morphine combined with transmucosal fentanyl that were given when needed. It was therefore decided to switch to intrathecal ziconotide.Starting with high levels of intrathecal morphine, the patient was referred first to weaning from morphine to a gradual titration of ziconotide doses of up to 7,4 mcg/die associated with 680 mcg/die of baclofen. A technical problem related to the infusion pump has led to the abrupt interruption of the administration of ziconotide and baclofen, which did not cause side effects, except for a poorly controlled pain. The spasticity, however, did not recur. After replacing the intrathecal pump and restarting the gradual titration of ziconotide alone, the patient has once again regained a good pain control with no recurrence to date of spasticity.