Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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In recent years, the field of acute pain medicine (APM) has witnessed a surge in its development, and pain has begun to be recognized not merely as a symptom, but as an actual disease process. This development warrants increased education of residents both in the performance of regional anesthesia as well as in the disease course of acute pain and the biopsychosocial mechanisms that define interindividual variability. ⋯ The scope and practice of APM must be expanded to include pre-pain/pre-intervention risk stratification and extended through the phase of subacute pain.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Analgesic efficacy and safety of medical therapy alone vs combined medical therapy and extraoral glossopharyngeal nerve block in glossopharyngeal neuralgia.
The aim of this study is to compare medical therapy alone and medical therapy with add on extraoral glossopharyngeal nerve block in terms of analgesic efficacy and hemodynamic safety in patients with glossopharyngeal neuralgia (GPN). As GPN is a rare disease, our secondary targets were to review the demographic profile of the disease, clinical profile, and any associations with the disease. ⋯ This study found that patients in both the groups had significantly lower pain intensities, improved pain relief, and reduced pain interference with QOL, which was especially evident on fourth visit (2 months) after the initiation of treatment regimen. Both were safe and well tolerated. The study advocates rational polypharmacy approach (oral and block) in difficult to treat painful conditions. Further controlled trials are warranted to further define the impact of such a combination therapy.
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Controlled Clinical Trial
Ultrasound-guided cervical periradicular steroid injection for cervical radicular pain: relevance of spread pattern and degree of penetration of contrast medium.
Ultrasound-guided cervical periradicular steroid injection (US-CPSI) is an attractive alternate to conventional C-arm guided transforaminal epidural injection for treatment of cervical radicular pain. We compared the technical differences and clinical outcomes between these two techniques. ⋯ Our preliminary data suggest that the technique of UP-CPSI can provide an adequate local spread pattern, tissue penetration for treatment of cervical radicular pain.
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Controlled Clinical Trial
Effects of different frequencies (2-3 days/week) of aquatic therapy program in adults with chronic low back pain. A non-randomized comparison trial.
To study the effects of an aquatic therapy program with different frequencies (2 vs 3 days per week) in chronic low back pain. ⋯ Eight weeks of aquatic therapy program decrease levels of back pain and disability, increase quality of life, and improve health-related fitness in adults with chronic low back pain without effects in body composition. A dose-response effect was observed in some parameters, with greater benefits when exercising 3 days per week compared with 2 days.