Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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We examined whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) combined with aerobic exercise (AE) modulated the pressure pain threshold (PPT) and peak alpha frequency (PAF) measured via resting electroencephalography. ⋯ The combined tDCS and AE intervention induced significant changes in PPT in a single session, with a PAF that was earlier and higher than those produced during the Sham tDCS/AE and tDCS sessions.
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The placebo effect is important in determining the outcome of the treatment of pain for which expectancy and context are the main contributors. The variable success of thermal neurotomy spinal pain procedures is often seen as evidence of the placebo effect. Conversely, proponents of pain procedures explain poorer outcomes by technical procedure deficiencies, including inadequate diagnosis. This cohort study set out to determine whether patient expectancy is a contributing factor in the outcome of thermal neurotomy to the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar zygapophysial and sacroiliac joints. ⋯ Altogether, patient expectation of outcome, hope, and desire are not associated with the outcome of effective pain relief by thermal neurotomy that has been performed to the appropriate and commonly available technical standards. Further work is needed to determine the influence of patient expectation across a range of pain intervention modalities.
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The aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness and safety of a novel lateral in-plane approach for ultrasound-guided transforaminal cervical nerve root block (US-guided TF-CNRB) in the treatment of cervical radiculopathic pain. ⋯ US-guided TF-CNRB produced circumferential spreading around the involved cervical nerve root and showed significant clinical effectiveness in patients resistant to regular US-guided CNRB.