Pain physician
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Dexamethasone Effectively Reduces the Incidence of Post-neurotomy Neuropathic Pain: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study.
Radiofrequency neurotomy (RFN) of facet or sacroiliac joints is widely used for the treatment of chronic axial pain and can provide long-term pain relief in well-selected patients. The most common side effect is transient neuropathic pain at the paravertebral level of interest. Pain physicians commonly administer corticosteroid post-neurotomy to reduce the risk of post-neurotomy neuropathic pain, yet it remains unclear if this provides a true reduction in incidence. ⋯ A statistically significant reduction in post-neurotomy pain was observed in the steroid group. This protocol can be feasibly conducted in an effective and resource-efficient manner. Additional research is needed to increase the power of the study.
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At present, there is no ideal method for the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia (TN). The need for an easy, safe, non- or micro-neurodestructive, repeatable treatment, with a fairly satisfactory rate of pain relief, is paramount. Pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) as a minimally invasive and microdestructive technique has been reported to be an option for TN; however, no study has reported the long-term outcome of TN in a large case series. ⋯ The results of this study show the promising long-term effect of PRF on primary TN. The safety and repeatability might be more easily accepted by patients with TN and should be considered a preferred treatment option before choosing neurodestructive or more invasive methods.
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The leakage of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) can be encountered spontaneously or after procedures such as epidural or spinal anesthesia, intrathecal chemotherapy, CSF tapping, or other various spinal procedures. The leakage of CSF can lead to intracranial hypotension, which is associated with an orthostatic headache. For such patients with this type of headache, an epidural blood patch is the treatment of choice. ⋯ Most patients in the PDPH group required a single epidural blood patch to achieve complete recovery from headache. However, patients in the SIH group required repeated epidural blood patches for complete pain relief.
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Meta Analysis
Pericranial Total Tenderness Score in Patients with Tension-type Headache and Migraine. A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Increased pericranial tenderness is considered to be a typical characteristic of tension-type headache (TTH). Assessment of pericranial tenderness in TTH using the total tenderness score is recommended by the International Classification of Headache Disorders-3 (ICHD-3). However, to what extent pericranial tenderness differs between patients with TTH or migraine and healthy patients is unknown. ⋯ We found moderate quality evidence for higher tenderness in chronic TTH and migraine, and low quality evidence for higher tenderness in episodic TTH compared to healthy patients. Pericranial tenderness is a common finding in patients with headache and healthy patients. These findings apply for a critical evaluation of the total tenderness score in the current ICHD-3 classification of TTH.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The Use of Combination Paracetamol and Ibuprofen in Postoperative Pain after Total Knee Arthroplasty, a Randomized Controlled Trial.
Adequate pain management has an important role in supporting early ambulation after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Multimodal analgesia is one of the modalities of overcoming postoperative pain. The use of a combination of paracetamol and ibuprofen is expected to reduce the total morphine requirement after TKA. ⋯ The combination of paracetamol and ibuprofen is better in reducing the total morphine requirement after TKA when compared with the administration of paracetamol injection alone or ibuprofen injection alone. Combination paracetamol injection and ibuprofen injection also provides adequate pain management in order to help early ambulation.