Pain
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Review Clinical Trial
Microsurgical DREZotomy for pain due to spinal cord and/or cauda equina injuries: long-term results in a series of 44 patients.
According to the literature estimations, 10-25% of patients with spinal cord and cauda equina injuries eventually develop refractory pain. Due to the fact that most classical neurosurgical methods are considered of little or no efficacy in controlling this type of pain, the authors had recourse to microsurgery in the dorsal root entry zone (DREZ). This article reports on the long-term results of the microsurgical approach to the dorsal root entry zone (DREZotomy) in a series of 44 patients suffering from unbearable neuropathic pain secondary to spine injury. ⋯ There were no perioperative mortalities. Morbidity included cerebrospinal fluid leak (three patients), wound infection (two patients), subcutaneous hematoma (one patient) and bacteremia (in one patient). The above data justify the inclusion of DREZ-lesioning surgery in the neurosurgical armamentarium for treating 'segmental' pain due to spinal cord injuries.