Pain research & management : the journal of the Canadian Pain Society = journal de la société canadienne pour le traitement de la douleur
-
To assess the durability of treatment over various chronic pain conditions of an emerging, nonprescription electromagnetic neuromodulation device that uses pulsed shortwave therapy. ⋯ Ninety-seven percent of the recruited subjects, all of whom had previously reported clinically significant pain relief using the 7-day PSWT device, sustained this relief for 6 months by using the device on an as-needed basis.
-
Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is characterized by unpleasant sensations generally localized to legs, associated with an urge to move. A likely pathogenetic mechanism is a central dopaminergic dysfunction. The exact role of pain system is unclear. ⋯ Both sensory-discriminative and affective-emotional components of pain experience show parallel changes. This study confirms the structural integrity of Aδ nociceptive system in idiopathic RLS, but it also suggests that RLS patients present circadian modifications in the pain system. These findings could potentially help clinicians and contribute to identify new therapeutic approaches.
-
Pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) on the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) has been applied to alleviate neuropathic pain effectively, yet the mechanisms underlying pain reduction owing to this treatment are not clarified completely. The activated microglia, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), and phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (p-ERK) in the spinal cord were demonstrated to be involved in developing neuropathic pain. Also, it has been just known that PRF on DRG inhibits the microglial activation in nerve injury rats. Here, we aim to investigate whether PRF treatment could regulate the levels of BDNF, PI3K, and p-ERK in the spinal cord of rats with spared nerve injury (SNI) via suppressing the spinal microglia activation to ease neuropathic pain. ⋯ Microglial BDNF, PI3K, and p-ERK in the spinal cord are suppressed by the therapy of PRF on DRG to ease SNI-induced neuropathic pain in rats.
-
Patients with lumbar disc herniation (LDH) may present with motor disorders and various sensory disorders, among which pain and numbness are the most common ones. Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) is reported to be both safe and effective. However, most of the previous studies focused on the recovery of pain, and the relief extent of numbness and weakness has rarely been reported. The Sciatica Bothersomeness Index (SBI) is a self-assessment tool for LDH patients. It has demonstrated acceptable reliability, construct validity, and responsiveness. ⋯ PELD had a good curative effect in the treatment of LDH. Patients of LDH recovered best from pain, followed by numbness and weakness after PELD. Higher level of patients self-reported preoperative pain indicated a better surgical outcome for LDH patients, and preoperative long duration of symptoms together with a severe compression of nerve root significantly increased the risk of presenting numbness and/or weakness.
-
Pregnant women with chronic pain present a unique clinical challenge for both chronic pain and obstetrical providers, and clinical guidelines do not exist. The present study describes the prevalence and management of chronic pain during pregnancy in a perinatal mood disorder clinic. A retrospective chart review of pregnant women who presented to the Women's Mental Health Program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) for an initial evaluation from July 2013 to June 2016 was conducted to obtain demographic and medical information, including pharmacological exposures. ⋯ Of subjects with chronic pain, 95.5% were taking at least one prescription medication (mean = 2.6 ± 2.1, range of 0-10). Acetaminophen (43.2%) and opioids (43.2%) were the most common. The complexity of managing maternal benefits of treatment with the risks of fetal exposures presents a uniquely challenging clinical scenario for healthcare providers.