Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Jun 2023
Review Meta AnalysisPhysical functioning following spinal cord stimulation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has emerged as an important treatment for chronic pain disorders. While there is evidence supporting improvement in pain intensity with SCS therapy, efforts to synthesize the evidence on physical functioning are lacking. ⋯ This meta-analysis highlights significant improvements in physical function after SCS therapy. However, this finding was limited by a very low GRADE certainty of evidence and high heterogeneity.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Jun 2023
ReviewRole of patient selection and trial stimulation for spinal cord stimulation therapy for chronic non-cancer pain: a comprehensive narrative review.
Patient selection for spinal cord stimulation (SCS) therapy is crucial and is traditionally performed with clinical selection followed by a screening trial. The factors influencing patient selection and the importance of trialing have not been systematically evaluated. ⋯ Due to lack of a consistent approach to identify responders for SCS therapy, trialing complements patient selection to exclude patients who do not find the therapy helpful and/or intolerant of the SCS system. However, more rigorous and large studies are necessary to better evaluate its role.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Jun 2023
Daring discourse: economics of neuromodulation for the treatment of persistent spinal pain syndrome and complex regional pain syndrome.
The treatment options for patients with chronic pain conditions are impacted by recent research, patient needs, and insurance coverage. Although various factors affect the cost of healthcare, the economic burden on the patient and the healthcare system must be considered when choosing the appropriate treatments for each patient. This Daring Discourse aims to review and further clarify existing economic evaluations and thus examine cost-effectiveness with regards to neuromodulation for the treatment of persistent spinal pain syndrome and complex regional pain syndrome. Specific consideration is given to spinal cord stimulation, as it is a widely studied and implemented neuromodulation modality for the treatment of these debilitating conditions.