Pain physician
-
Comparative Study
Alternative approach to needle placement in spinal cord stimulator trial/implantation.
Neuromodulation with spinal cord stimulation is a proven, cost effective treatment for the management of chronic radicular low back pain from failed low back surgery syndrome and other neuropathic pain conditions. The traditionally instructed method for percutaneous spinal cord stimulator lead placement promotes the use of a "loss of resistance" technique under anteroposterior fluoroscopic guidance to assure midline lead placement and proper entry into the epidural space. Loss of resistance is a reliable method to locate the epidural space in most clinical situations. ⋯ This method allows for multiple lead placement or single lead insertion multiple times in the same interlaminar space. This is an alternative approach to the loss of resistance technique based on the fluoroscopic landmarks. Theoretically, this should be a safer approach for accessing the epidural space; however, further studies are needed to evaluate its safety.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
One-year results of a randomized, double-blind, active controlled trial of fluoroscopic caudal epidural injections with or without steroids in managing chronic discogenic low back pain without disc herniation or radiculitis.
Lumbar radicular pain pathophysiology continues to be the subject of research and debate as discogenic pain is increasingly seen as a cause of non-specific low back pain. Among non-surgical methods used to manage chronic low back pain with or without disc herniation, epidural injections are one of the most common modalities. However, there is little evidence utilizing contemporary methodology for using epidural injections in patients with discogenic pain. ⋯ Caudal epidural injections with local anesthetic with or without steroids are effective in patients with chronic low back pain of discogenic origin without facet joint pain, disc herniation, and/or radiculitis.
-
Review Case Reports
Feasibility of combined epicranial temporal and occipital neurostimulation: treatment of a challenging case of headache.
Evidence of a paradigm shift towards epicranial neurostimulation treatment techniques aimed at the site of headache pain is beginning to populate the literature. This is most apparent by 2 recently published reports describing alternative approaches to peripheral nerve stimulation techniques for refractory migraine, including hemiplegic migraine. ⋯ In the single case reported here, the feasibility of a novel neurostimulation technique (occipital nerve stimulation/bilateral subcutaneous temporal region stimulation) to treat headache is presented. At the 24-month follow-up, no complications (such as loss of coverage due to lead displacement or lead fracture or erosion) or adverse side effects were reported. Finally, inclusion of fundamental programming data in reports on neuroaugmentative approaches to headache care will complement initiatives in research from the clinical and biomedical communities involved in this field.
-
Opioid guidelines recommend opioid rotation and switching for patients who do not achieve adequate pain relief or who experience intolerable adverse events (AEs) with their current opioid. However, specific recommendations and protocols for opioid rotation are lacking, making the practice time consuming and difficult for primary care physicians to accomplish independently or coordinate with a pain specialist. ⋯ Preliminary data suggest that RORT can be performed safely and effectively by incorporating IV-PCA during the first 24 hours. Further investigations are needed to determine whether RORT can become an ambulatory treatment intervention in pain practice.
-
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the ACA, for short) became law with President Obama's signature on March 23, 2010. It represents the most significant transformation of the American health care system since Medicare and Medicaid. It is argued that it will fundamentally change nearly every aspect of health care, from insurance to the final delivery of care. ⋯ Consequently, it will be extremely difficult to repeal. In this manuscript, we look at reducing the regulatory burden on the public and providers and elimination of IPAB and PCORI. The major solution lies in controlling the drug and durable medical supply costs with appropriate negotiating capacity for Medicare, and consequently for other insurers.