Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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To perform an effective and safe nerve block, the needle must be placed near the target nerve while avoiding nerve damage. Our objective was to conduct an animal study to determine whether changes in electrical impedance (EI) could be used to guide the needle and achieve a safe and accurate nerve block. ⋯ EI values differed between extra- and paraneural sites, and monitoring these values allowed prediction of the needle tip location with respect to the target nerve. Real-time EI measurement could improve the nerve block.
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Few studies have evaluated patterns of systemic opioid use among patients initiating spinal cord stimulation therapy for chronic pain. This study evaluated systemic opioid discontinuation and/or dose reduction and total health care cost after the start of spinal cord stimulation therapy. ⋯ This analysis shows that among patients who continued spinal cord stimulation therapy for at least 2 years, a significant proportion were able to reduce and/or discontinue systemic opioid use, with costs after the start of therapy significantly reduced relative to baseline.