Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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To investigate the efficacy of venlafaxine for neuropathic pain and review literature to determine if the medication provides adequate neuropathic pain relief. ⋯ In conclusion, venlafaxine is a safe and well-tolerated analgesic drug for the symptomatic treatment of neuropathic pain, and there is limited evidence that high-dose venlafaxine (150 mg/day) can be even more beneficial. While the present evidence is quite encouraging regarding venlafaxine's use for neuropathic pain, further research is needed to continue to expand on these findings, particularly when in consideration with other possible pharmacological agents.
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Observational Study
Effectiveness of Percutaneous Lumbar Extraforaminotomy in Patients with Lumbar Foraminal Spinal Stenosis: A Prospective, Single-Armed, Observational Pilot Study.
In lumbar foraminal spinal stenosis (LFSS), numerous ligaments may play an important role in causing radiculopathy by narrowing the exit of the nerve root. In order to achieve effective decompression of lumbar foraminal ligaments, a specially designed instrument for percutaneous lumbar extraforaminotomy (PLEF) was invented. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of PLEF in patients with intractable radiculopathy from LFSS. ⋯ The PLEF can be an effective and safe treatment option, as well as a minimally invasive procedure, for the management of patients suffering from refractory radiculopathy caused by LFSS.
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Earlier studies suggest that pain extent, extracted from the patients' pain drawings, can help clinicians to identify people with central sensitization or worse clinical features. Our aim was to investigate possible associations between perceived pain extent and clinical pain features, burden of headache, psychological outcomes, and pressure sensitivity in people with chronic tension-type headache (CTTH). ⋯ Pain extent weakly correlated with older age as well as with higher emotional and physical burden of the headache in CTTH. In this population, there was no relationship between pain extent and PPT, indicating that larger pain areas were not associated with signs of central sensitization. Pain drawings can complement other clinical pain features for better characterization of CTTH, but further studies are needed.