Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society
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Objectives. This study aims to assess the efficacy of intrathecal infusion in different types of pain. A number of different variables were assessed to analyze their effect on therapy and to determine in which patients intrathecal infusion is more effective. Materials and Methods. A retrospective study was conducted with data obtained from 1983 to 2002. ⋯ The multivariate analysis (logistic regression analysis) revealed a significant difference with regard to gender, with an odds ratio of 2.78 in favor of male gender. When the efficacy and safety of the infusion was compared to the dose of morphine used, no significant differences were observed, with p = 0.65 for efficacy and p = 0.69 for safety. Conclusions. Pain relief was obtained with this technique in approximately 70% of patients, with no differences between pain types, but with a significant difference in favor of male gender.
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In current medical literature, most reported complications during spinal cord stimulation (SCS) concern technical problems, such as malfunction, migration or breakage of the lead, or internal pulse generator dysfunction, while reports about side-effects caused by SCS are rare. In this clinical report, we describe uncommon and unexplained gastrointestinal (GI) side-effects of constipation, abdominal pain, and distension during SCS in a patient suffering for chronic neuropathic pain caused by failed back surgery syndrome. These GI symptoms disappeared after suspension of SCS and were reduced if the stimulation settings were reduced below paresthesia threshold. The symptoms experienced by our patient could be related to a functional and reversible block of parasympathetic outflow in the GI system since SCS may involve not only dorsal horn structures but also somatic and visceral sensory afferents to these structures in an unpredictable way.
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Background. Buerger disease is a nonatherosclerotic, segmental, occlusive and recurrent inflammatory vascular disorder that affects small and medium-sized arteries and veins of the upper and lower extremities. Case reports. We report two cases of Buerger disease. Medical History. Smoking habit. ⋯ Following all of the above treatments, Synergy(®) spinal cord (ECP) stimulator with two electrodes (Quad PISCES(©) ) placed at the level of T9-T10. Results. There has been a reduction in pain of about 80% and an improvement of intermittent claudication (one of the patients no longer claudicates, whereas the other patient claudicates at 400 m). Conclusion. Neurostimulation of the posterior funiculi could be considered not only as palliative care but also as a therapeutic option.
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The history of the use of electrical stimulation for pain is a cavalcade of research and innovation of many great scholars, scientists, and physicians over centuries that continues up to the present day. The legacy of this philosophy, research, and innovation is the field of neuromodulation for pain control. Today, patients with chronic pain from damage to the nervous system and chronic pain of the extremities, the axial low back, and neck, the face, and the viscera, all derive benefit from these early pioneers that have led to the expanding field of neuromodulation ... "on the shoulders of giants." We present here a history of the understandings of pain from the ancients to the present, which has led to our understandings of the use of electricity to cure disease and release patients from their suffering, generating the new, exciting, and expanding field of neuromodulation.
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Complications of intrathecal drug delivery are relatively rare. Of these, infections, cutaneous erosion, and granulomas account for the most common complications. The latter is often noticed when the patient shows signs of sedation and/or reduced pain relief. ⋯ Here, we present a case where a catheter-tip granuloma formed within 5 weeks of intrathecal morphine. The patient was carrying an intrathecal pump for 3 months when it was diagnosed. Probable causes of the formation are discussed.