A bone marrow biopsy (BMB) is the same concept as a blood draw (technically, a "blood biopsy"), the difference being that veins are a whole lot easier to get into with a needle than the center of a bone.
I could work up a good sweat when doing them on patients. When done on me, it hurt like the blazes for two seconds as the physician pulled on the plunger to suck up (aspirate) a sample of blood from the marrow.
Surely we can find a better way to do the 700,000 such biopsies that are done in the United States every year to diagnosis and follow up patients with conditions such as lymphoma and leukemia.
Just in time for the holidays, Vidacare is releasing a lithium battery-powered device that drills directly into the bone of a patient. According to the San Antonio Business Journal, “The OnControl Bone Marrow System will increase the efficiency of bone marrow biopsies and aspirations while also reducing patient discomfort."
Instead of the usual 7 - 30 minutes, doctors who used this gizmo took "on average, 2 minutes and 9 seconds to perform the procedure from the time the needle was inserted to the time the bone marrow sample was extracted from the body."
Sounds good to me.
Wow!
Posted by: Roz | November 03, 2009 at 04:33 PM
I am THRILLED to see your post about the new bmb drill. I hope it really works well and that doctors put it to use quickly, if indeed it does work well. I say that because a better method could reduce so much pain and stress, and lead to better research.
Indeed, bmbs were perhaps the most dreaded part of my girlfriend's recent several months of fairly barbaric treatment (chemo and stem cell transplant) for relapsed DLBCL, a type of lymphoma. Having been through the disease and chemo a decade before, she had very few fears, but she readily admitted to fear of the bmbs.
Oh, was she right. I held her hand and shoulders through one bmb that was done in her hospital room. The marrow was just not cooperating, and it took darn near 25 tension-filled minutes to get the job done. Happily, she had asked for a serious sedative beforehand, so she was only sort of awake and conscious and did not remember much later.
The problem was not with the takers, so far as I could tell. She was at a world-class hospital where everyone was quite expert, but the procedure just did not go well due to her cantankerous marrow. The takers all expressed many times how badly they felt about the time and pain.
I hope doctors also realize that the pain and anxiety of bmbs also discourages joining some clinical trials. Specifically, she agreed to enroll in a clinical trial but later realized that the researchers wanted the enrolled patients to go through quarterly bmbs. The prospect of more bmbs was disturbing to her, for obvious reasons. Indeed, she thought about not going forward with the clinical trial in order to avoid the bmbs. Ultimately, a kind person indicated she could opt out of the bmbs (and she did opt out of the bmbs), but then stayed enrolled in the trial.
She feels some regret because she understand that the researchers would like to have the data from bmbs to get even more insight as to what is and is not happening in the marrow as treatments occur. But at some point, the desire to help science gives way to pain and fear. So, if this new device really does make bmbs much better, it could help research scientists by making it easier for patients to say "yes" to clinical trials.
Thanks again for posting on the topic.
Kirk
Posted by: Kirk | November 04, 2009 at 08:24 PM
Hi everyone, my name is Tracy. I am excited to let you know that the OnControl system is amazing!! My husband was diagnosed with Leukemia over 4 years ago. In that time he has had 4 bmb's. After the last one which consisted of 30+ minutes of his doctor pushing against the wall with his foot to get leverage, and me on the other side pushing back against him, I decided that would never happen again. I asked the dr for months to look into getting some sort of tool to make it easier.....it never happened. Not being one to roll over, I decided to find something myself. I discovered the Vidacare website & sent them a letter. Becky responded immediately (she is great by the way). She set me up with Wayne, the local rep, and he contacted our doctor. Wayne (who is also great) made sure we had the "drill" for the bmb. He traveled a long way on 2 separate occasions as well as stayed over night here in town to be there for the biopsy. He brought everything we needed & supervised the process.
The procedure went so well, we were all in awe. The drill got through the bone in under 10 seconds....yes I said seconds! The aspiration was done & he went in to get the core sample,which was perfect, thanks to the special needle used. Start to finish the whole procedure took less than 2 minutes. Amazing! David went from 45 minutes of pure torture (when you factor in the extra time the dr took to dig for a mediocre core sample) to 2 minutes of pain. Nothing can eliminate the pain, but 2 minutes vs 45, that's a no-brainer. David also did not have any pain afterward & was able to rest comfortably that night, which is not usually the case after a bmb with the archaic tools.
I do not work for, nor am I associated with Vidacare, but I am their newest/biggest fan. If either you or a loved one ever has to have a bmb, you would really be doing them or yourself a disservice if you don't do everything you can to get the OnControl system. Our doctor was not going to go out of his way to find this tool, but since we basically forced it on him, he is grateful now. He is working on having it available for the patients who really need it. We have to be our own advocates when it comes to our health, and in this case it paid off for us big time! I will say that we will NEVER have another bmb without OnControl.
I hope this helps someone else out there looking for a better experience. Thanks.
Posted by: Tracy Gunnels | December 02, 2009 at 05:52 PM