Clinics in geriatric medicine
-
Most Americans will be afflicted by some form of spine-related pain in their lifetime. In older patients, the most frequent source of back pain is lumbar spinal stenosis or vertebral compression fracture. Although most back pain is self-limited, some patients will require interventional techniques. This article reviews minimally invasive techniques for treating back pain, lumbosacral radicular pain, lumbar spinal stenosis, and compression fractures.
-
Clin. Geriatr. Med. · May 2008
ReviewAssessment of pain in the nonverbal or cognitively impaired older adult.
The inability of nonverbal older adults to communicate pain represents a major barrier to pain assessment and treatment. This article focuses on nonverbal older adult populations with dementia, delirium, and severe critical illness. ⋯ Selected behavioral tools for nonverbal pain assessment are critiqued. Although there are tools with promise, there is currently no standardized behavioral tool that may be recommended for broad adoption in clinical practice and continued concerted effort to this end is needed.