Pain physician
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Quadratus Lumborum Block Spares Postoperative Opioid Usage but Does Not appear to Prevent the Development of Chronic Pain After Gastrointestinal Surgery.
Regional anesthesia has been used to reduce acute postsurgical pain and to prevent chronic pain. The best technique, however, remains controversial. ⋯ Ultrasound-guided QLB provided superior short-term analgesia and reduced oxycodone consumption and the incidence of PONV after gastrointestinal surgery. However, the incidence of chronic pain was not significantly affected by this anesthetic technique.
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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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Observational Study
Patterns of Use of Opioid Sparing Adjuncts for Perioperative Pain Management of Patients on Chronic Opioids.
Perioperative pain management of patients on chronic opioids is challenging. Although experts recommend regional anesthesia and multimodal analgesics for their opioid sparing effects, their use and predictors of use are unknown. ⋯ Despite consensus guidelines, regional anesthesia remains underutilized. Multimodals are used frequently and are modestly associated with preoperative narcotic scores.
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Recurrent trigeminal neuralgia (TN) after surgical operations can be quite difficult to treat, and treatment measures have not been standardized. Patients often have long-term, repeated severe pain, which may easily cause anxiety and depression and can exert a negative effect on the quality of life. Despite the known efficacy of percutaneous balloon compression (PBC) for TN, it is unclear whether PBC can be used as the preferred surgical treatment for postoperative recurrent TN and effectively improve patients' negative emotions. ⋯ PBC is a minimally invasive, safe, and effective procedure. Moreover, it significantly improves the symptoms of anxiety, depression, and sleep quality caused by TN, so it appears to be regarded as an optimized choice for patients with recurrent TN after surgical procedures.
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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.