Pain physician
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Despite recent developments in implantable neurostimulation devices, the adjustment of stimulation levels to the patient's postural changes has remained a problem so far. ⋯ The findings of the present work are similar to those described in previous publications that showed the relationship between postural changes and several stimulation thresholds and pulse energy. The posture which requires lower energy - and whose corresponding therapeutic range (TR) is narrower--is supine decubitus.
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In spite of the widespread performance of intra-articular zygapophyseal joint (IAZJ) injections, we know of no systematic analysis to date that examines the risks and types of adverse events when IAZJ injections are performed. ⋯ Fluoroscopically guided IAZJ injections have minimal adverse effects. The most common immediate adverse event was vasovagal reaction and most common delayed adverse event was injection site soreness.
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Vicodin, the combination drug of acetaminophen and the opioid hydrocodone, is one of the most prescribed drugs on the market today. Opioids have demonstrated the ability to paradoxically cause increased pain sensitivity to users in a phenomena called opioid-induced hyperalgesia (OIH). While selected opioids have been shown to produce OIH symptoms in an animal model, hydrocodone and the combination drug Vicodin have yet to be studied. ⋯ However, increased pain sensitivity was only noted in the thermal pathway and the hypersensitivity was only seen with the opioid combination drug, not the opioid alone. The results of this study both support the results of previous rodent opioid studies while generating further questions about the specific properties of Vicodin that contribute to pain hypersensitivity. The growing use of Vicodin to treat chronic pain necessitates further research looking into this paradoxical pain response.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Transforaminal versus parasagittal interlaminar epidural steroid injection in low back pain with radicular pain: a randomized, double-blind, active-control trial.
Epidural injections are the most common minimally invasive intervention used to manage low back pain with lumbosacral radicular pain. It can be delivered through either transforaminal (TF), interlaminar, or caudal approaches. The TF approach is considered more efficacious than the interlaminar approach probably because of ventral epidural spread. However, catastrophic complications reported with the TF approach have raised concerns regarding its use. These concerns regarding the safety of the TF approach lead to the search for a technically better route with lesser complications with drug delivery into the ventral epidural space. The parasagittal interlaminar (PIL) route is reported to have good ventral epidural spread. However, there is a paucity of literature comparing the effectiveness of PIL with TF. ⋯ Epidural injection delivered through the PIL approach is equivalent in achieving effective pain relief and functional improvement to the TF approach for the management of low back pain with lumbosacral radicular pain. The PIL approach can be considered a suitable alternative to the TF approach for its equivalent effectiveness, probable better safety profile, and technical ease.