Journal of pain research
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Journal of pain research · Jan 2018
Case ReportsPulsed radiofrequency of C2 dorsal root ganglion under ultrasound guidance for chronic migraine: a case report.
Chronic migraine is common but difficult to treat. Most patients respond poorly to drugs. Occipital nerve block such as stellate ganglion block is an effective treatment without continuous effect for migraine. ⋯ This case report is about a patient who suffered from chronic migraine with occipital pain and was successfully treated with PRF of C2 (axis) dorsal root ganglion (DRG) under ultrasound guidance confirmed by computed tomograpy scan. The patient did not feel headache after 1-year follow-up. This suggests that C2 DRG PRF might be considered as an alternative treatment for chronic migraine with occipital pain.
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Journal of pain research · Jan 2018
Ovine model of neuropathic pain for assessing mechanisms of spinal cord stimulation therapy via dorsal horn recordings, von Frey filaments, and gait analysis.
It is becoming increasingly important to understand the mechanisms of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) in alleviating neuropathic pain as novel stimulation paradigms arise. ⋯ To our knowledge, this is the first reported large animal model of chronic neuropathic pain which facilitates the study of both acute and chronic SCS using complementary behavioral and electrophysiologic measures. As demonstrated by our successful establishment of these techniques, an ovine model of neuropathic pain is suitable for testing the mechanisms of SCS.
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Journal of pain research · Jan 2018
The link between idiopathic intracranial hypertension, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome: exploration of a shared pathophysiology.
Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IICH) is a condition characterized by raised intracranial pressure (ICP), and its diagnosis is established when the opening pressure measured during a lumbar puncture is elevated >20 cm H2O in nonobese patients or >25 cm H2O in obese patients. Papilledema is caused by forced filling of the optic nerve sheath with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Other common but underappreciated symptoms of IICH are neck pain, back pain, and radicular pain in the arms and legs resulting from associated increased spinal pressure and forced filling of the spinal nerves with CSF. Widespread pain and also several other characteristics of IICH share notable similarities with characteristics of fibromyalgia (FM) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), two overlapping chronic pain conditions. The aim of this review was to compare literature data regarding the characteristics of IICH, FM, and CFS and to link the shared data to an apparent underlying physiopathology, that is, increased ICP. ⋯ IICH, FM, and CFS share a large variety of symptoms that might all be explained by the same pathophysiology of increased cerebrospinal pressure.
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Journal of pain research · Jan 2018
Clinimetric properties of the Nepali version of the Pain Catastrophizing Scale in individuals with chronic pain.
Pain catastrophizing is an exaggerated negative cognitive response related to pain. It is commonly assessed using the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS). Translation and validation of the scale in a new language would facilitate cross-cultural comparisons of the role that pain catastrophizing plays in patient function. ⋯ The PCS-NP is a valid and reliable instrument to assess pain catastrophizing in Nepalese individuals with chronic pain.
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Journal of pain research · Jan 2018
Mast cell deficiency attenuates acupuncture analgesia for mechanical pain using c-kit gene mutant rats.
Acupuncture therapy plays a pivotal role in pain relief, and increasing evidence demonstrates that mast cells (MCs) may mediate acupuncture analgesia. The present study aims to investigate the role of MCs in acupuncture analgesia using c-kit gene mutant-induced MC-deficient rats. ⋯ MCs influence the basic mechanical but not thermal pain threshold. MCs participate in acupuncture analgesia in mechanical but not in thermal nociception, in that MC deficiency may attenuate the mechanical analgesia evoked by high-intensity stimuli and eliminate analgesia provoked by low-intensity stimuli.