Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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Case Reports
Self-mutilation in patients after nerve injury may not be due to deafferentation pain: a case report.
Animals with transected nerves may develop self-mutilating behavior (autotomy) directed at the denervated body part. Autotomy is often thought to be a response to deafferentation pain produced by pathological changes in the dorsal horn, and self-mutilation after dorsal rhizotomy has consequently been used as an outcome measure for the investigation of chronic pain in animal models. A less recognized hypothesis suggests that autotomy is simply an animal's efforts to remove the useless part. We report a case of self-mutilation of the thumb and fingers in a patient with loss of all sensory modalities in the arm after brachial plexus avulsion. ⋯ Asking the patient about the reasons for his self-mutilation provides insights into the cause of autotomy which cannot be established from animal studies. We suggest that autotomy may not be a result of chronic pain, and discuss the human experience and alternative underlying pathological processes.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Botulinum type A toxin complex for the relief of upper back myofascial pain syndrome: how do fixed-location injections compare with trigger point-focused injections?
This was a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 12-week, multicenter study to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of fixed location injections of botulinum type A toxin (BoNT-A, Dysport) in predetermined injection sites in patients with myofascial pain syndrome of the upper back. ⋯ Fixed-location treatment with BoNT-A of patients with upper back myofascial pain syndrome did not lead to a significant improvement of the main target parameter in week 5 after treatment. Only in week 8 were significant differences found. Several secondary parameters, such as physicians' global assessment and patients' global assessment, significantly favored BoNT-A over placebo at weeks 8 and 12.
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To provide updated information on the role of botulinum toxins in the treatment of refractory pain based on prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies. DESIGN OF THE REVIEW: Class I and class II articles were searched online through PubMed (1966 to the end of January 2011) and OvidSP including ahead-of-print manuscripts. ⋯ Evidence-based data indicate that administration of botulinum toxin in several human conditions can alleviate refractory pain. The problems with some study designs and toxin dosage are critically reviewed.