For wounded Marines, a 'lollipop' to ease pain

Published : Nov 2, 2011 - 11:26 Updated : Nov 2, 2011 - 11:27

US Marines badly wounded in Afghanistan may get a "lollipop" with a powerful pain killer from now on instead of the traditional shot of morphine, a Marine Corps spokesman said Tuesday.

The new treatment offers an alternative to the morphine needle "you see in the World War II movies," with medics jabbing a syrette into a soldier's leg or arm, Captain Brian Block said.

The Fentanyl lollipop offers medics a faster way to ease the pain of a battlefield injury as the drug can be absorbed more rapidly through a lozenge in the mouth than from a needle injected into a muscle, Block said.

"The absorption is actually faster through the blood vessels in the mouth. You don't have to worry about shock which will constrict the blood vessels in a major muscle in a leg or an arm," Block told AFP.

$A US Marine suffering from fractures in his leg is carried by his comrades to a medevac helicopter in Helmand province in October 2011. (AFP)$

A US Marine suffering from fractures in his leg is carried by his comrades to a medevac helicopter in Helmand province in October 2011. (AFP)

After US Marine special operations forces used the new sucker successfully, commanders ordered the lollipop to be distributed to medics throughout the Marine Corps, he said.

The marines started delivering the lollipop to medical corpsmen about two months ago, he said.

"Some medics have it now. And it will continue to be fielded until it's out there for everybody," he said.

The lollipop also gives medics more control over the dosage, as the lozenge can be withdrawn at any moment, unlike a shot of morphine, he said.

"If the patient goes into shock or if there's a reason that you need to limit the dosage that you're giving to them, you can just pop it out of the mouth in a way that you couldn't (with the syrette).

"Once the morphine's in, the morphine's in."

Like other medicine distributed to military medics, the lollipops are subject to strict controls and will not be handed out directly to troops on the battlefield, he said.

"We'll take the appropriate steps to maintain accountability and maintain that they're being used appropriately," he said.

Medics in Afghanistan will still have the option of employing the morphine syrette, a small needle on a collapsible tube.

And for the moment, the pain-killing sucker will come in only one flavor -- "berry," he said.

<한글기사>

부상당한 美해군에 '막대 사탕' 진통제

미국 해군은 앞으로 아프가니스탄에서 부상한 병사들에게 진통제로 모르핀 주사 대신 '막대 사탕'을 처방하기로 했다.

브라이언 블록 미 해군 대변인은 1일(현지시간) 마약성 진통제 펜타닐이 함유된 막대 사탕이 팔이나 다리에 주사를 놓아 투여하는 모르핀을 대체한다고 밝혔다.

블록 대변인은 "진통 성분은 입속 혈관을 통해 더 빨리 흡수된다"며 "주삿바늘과 달리 팔, 다리의 주요 근육 내 혈관을 수축시키는 충격도 걱정할 필요가 없다"고 설명했다.

그는 또 "한 번 투여되면 그걸로 끝인 모르핀과 달리 막대 사탕은 환자가 쇼크를 받거나 투여 중 복용량이 제한될 필요가 있을 때 입에서 꺼내기만 하면 된다"며 따라서 의사가 투여량을 조절하기 쉽다고 말했다.

해군 특수부대에서 시범 사용한 결과 효능이 입증된 막대 사탕 진통제는 약 두 달전부터 군의관들에게 제공되기 시작했으며 앞으로 군 전체에 보급될 예정이다.

군이 사용하는 다른 약과 같이 막대 사탕도 엄격한 관리를 받게 되며 작전지에서 병사들에게 직접 배포되지도 않을 것이라고 블록은 말했다.

아프간 주둔 군의관들은 모르핀 주사도 계속 사용할 수 있으며 당분간 막대 사탕의 맛은 '딸기' 한가지라고 그는 덧붙였다.