{"entity":{"id":"pca-pumps","kind":"technology","name":"Patient-controlled analgesia pumps","aka":["PCA pump","Patient-controlled analgesia","LifeCare PCA","ambIT PCA"],"tldr":"A pump that lets a person in pain give themselves a small, pre-set dose of pain relief by pressing a button, with a lock-out so they cannot take too much.","summary":"PCA pumps are FDA product code MEA (pump, infusion, PCA; 21 CFR 880.5725). Examples include Hospira's LifeCare PCA infusion system (K143612, 8 April 2016) and Summit Medical Products' ambIT PCA and programmable intermittent bolus pumps (K162165, 29 August 2017). In cancer care they are used after surgery and for pain that is hard to control at the end of life; the programme sets the bolus size, the lock-out interval and any continuous background rate.","status":"standard-of-care","asOf":"2026-11-04","links":[{"label":"FDA product code MEA: PCA infusion pump","url":"https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfPCD/classification.cfm?ID=MEA"},{"label":"FDA 510(k) K143612: LifeCare PCA infusion system (8 April 2016)","url":"https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfpmn/pmn.cfm?ID=K143612"},{"label":"FDA 510(k) K162165: ambIT PCA and programmable intermittent bolus pumps (29 August 2017)","url":"https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfpmn/pmn.cfm?ID=K162165"}],"tags":["devices-gaps-2026-11"],"related":[],"cancers":[],"sections":["supportive-care","devices"],"technologies":["pain-management","infusion-devices-vascular-access","syringe-drivers","ambulatory-chemotherapy-pumps"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":["icu-medical"],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"provenance":{"editedBy":"OnCo device gap fill (openFDA, accessdata.fda.gov, NICE, NHS Drug Tariff Part IX, FDA, maker and society pages)","editedOn":"2026-11-04"},"principle":"A programmable syringe or cassette pump delivers a fixed bolus when the patient presses a handset, refusing further boluses until a lock-out interval has passed and logging every request.","strengths":["The patient controls timing of relief","Lock-out and dose limits guard against overdose"],"limitations":["Programming errors are a known hazard","Needs a patient able to use the button"],"since":2016},"route":"/technologies/pca-pumps/","neighbours":{"section":[{"id":"devices","kind":"section","name":"Devices & Physical Therapies","route":"/fronts/devices/"},{"id":"supportive-care","kind":"section","name":"Supportive Care & Survivorship","route":"/fronts/supportive-care/"}],"technology":[{"id":"ambulatory-chemotherapy-pumps","kind":"technology","name":"Ambulatory and elastomeric pumps for home chemotherapy (CADD-Solis, Curlin, Sapphire, Avoset, SMARTeZ)","route":"/technologies/ambulatory-chemotherapy-pumps/"},{"id":"pain-management","kind":"technology","name":"Cancer pain management","route":"/technologies/pain-management/"},{"id":"intrathecal-drug-delivery-pumps","kind":"technology","name":"Implanted intrathecal drug delivery pumps for cancer pain (SynchroMed, Prometra)","route":"/technologies/intrathecal-drug-delivery-pumps/"},{"id":"infusion-devices-vascular-access","kind":"technology","name":"Infusion pumps, ports, and ambulatory chemotherapy devices","route":"/technologies/infusion-devices-vascular-access/"},{"id":"syringe-drivers","kind":"technology","name":"Syringe pumps and subcutaneous syringe drivers","route":"/technologies/syringe-drivers/"}],"company":[{"id":"icu-medical","kind":"company","name":"ICU Medical","route":"/companies/icu-medical/"}]}}