Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
-
To review the pathophysiology of fibromyalgia syndrome. ⋯ Multiple abnormal findings in fibromyalgia patients strongly indicate a neuropathic pain syndrome, reminiscent of complex regional pain syndrome or postherpetic neuralgia. In addition, fibromyalgia syndrome seems to share similar characteristics with these neuropathic pain syndromes, including ineffective response to many analgesics.
-
A U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruling required clinical trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of deep brain stimulation devices, thereby limiting treatment to the investigational setting. ⋯ Deep brain stimulation has not been shown to produce effective long-term pain relief. Future studies of motor cortex stimulation and similar therapies will require appropriate control groups and accepted methods of data collection and analysis to support claims that predictable and reliable analgesic effects are produced in humans.
-
Mexilitine is an anti-arrhythmic agent used to treat neuropathic pain. The drug has a low side-effect profile with gastritis as the predominant complaint. The following two cases suggest that mexilitine can potentially cause persistent ophthalmic changes and should be used with caution in chronic pain patients with preexisting ocular disease.
-
This report illustrates that genitofemoral neuralgia can result from laparoscopic inguinal herniorrhaphy and offers a management strategy for this pain syndrome. ⋯ Recognition and proper diagnosis of genitofemoral neuralgia after laparoscopic herniorrhaphy may result in appropriate therapy and hasten recovery.