@kaki068 Sir- I hope you read all these replies carefully. I realize that folks convey what their doctor told them or they think they told them.
First- You don’t automatically get offered a pump trial under most circumstances. I knew I was toast, and when I showed for my first appointment the doctor knew what I was there to ask for. I was on copious amounts of pain pills & patches. That she could easily read from my intake papers. The one thing I didn’t have was a healthy back. I was already fused or had stabilizing hardware from C3-C-6, (C7-T1 is the only thing not fused) and T2-S1, bone spurs, arthritis, scar tissue, FBSS of both Thoracic and Lumbar spine, DDD, RSD/CRPS. They place as low as possible and not interfering with your anatomy or other equipment (like a SCS at level T8). Morphine is water soluble and your CSF is over 90% water. So as soon as it enters the intrathecal space it instantly dissolves and circulates. It can’t be targeted to a specific nerve at a specific level. It treats the entire spinal cord. And therefore the entire back. Since it doesn’t cross the blood/brain barrier, you don’t get any relief for other systemic pain. Hurt knee, hip, broken ribs, no relief at all. Strictly the back, the entire Cervical, thoracic, lumbar & sacral spine is covered.
The complexity of your spine, will ultimately determine where the catheter will be placed