Pain physician
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Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is often an option of last resort for patients with post-laminectomy syndrome or an alternative option for patients with complex regional pain syndrome, chronic nonsurgical low back pain, or painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy when conservative management has failed. Although SCS is a helpful option, it is not without complications that can frequently lead to explantation of the SCS device and dissatisfaction with the treatment. Furthermore, as with any technology, SCS has potential issues that may lead to patient frustration and ultimately result in patient noncompliance and lack of follow-up visits. ⋯ This paper, the first cross-sectional study of loss to follow-up among patients who are implanted with SCS devices, identifies that up to 19% of patients are quickly lost to follow-up after implantation. Only half of the patients in this study could be reached, with most successfully using their device for meaningful pain control, but a substantial number of patients likely required additional device optimization for pain relief.
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Observational Study
Long-term Follow-up of the Effectiveness and Safety of High-voltage Pulsed Radiofrequency Treatment for Infraorbital Neuralgia: A Retrospective Study.
Infraorbital neuralgia is a refractory facial pain that may cause various psychological disorders. There is no optimal treatment for infraorbital neuralgia because few relevant studies have been conducted. Pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) is a minimally invasive procedure that has been proven effective in treating trigeminal neuralgia and other painful diseases. Our previous study demonstrated that high-voltage PRF was effective in patients with infraorbital neuralgia. However, there is little literature on the long-term follow-up of infraorbital neuralgia treated with high-voltage PRF with a large sample size. ⋯ Computed tomography-guided high-voltage PRF treatment provides a minimally invasive and effective treatment option for patients with infraorbital neuralgia who fail conservative treatment, which could be considered as a preferred treatment before more invasive treatments.
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Post-COVID pain (PCP) is a condition that ensues from an infection of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Some researchers have explored the prevalence of PCP and its characteristics in the individuals who experience it. However, most individuals involved in the previous studies were middle-aged, and those studies focused mainly on hospital patients and musculoskeletal PCP. Existing data on PCP and its subtypes among older adults and outpatients are scanty. ⋯ Our study found a PCP prevalence of 9.4% in nonhospitalized older adults who had survived COVID-19. Number of COVID-19 symptoms and history of previous chronic pain seemed to be potential risk factors for PCP. Neuropathic PCP was associated with lower QoL and a more severe depression level.
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Spinal cord stimulation can be considered in PHN patients if conservative treatment is not effective. However, the long-term pain outcomes of temporary (7-14 days) spinal cord stimulation (tSCS) in refractory PHN patients with a course of more than 3 months have not been documented. ⋯ tSCS can be used as a safe and effective method to relieve refractory PHN, and the curative effect is substantially higher in patients with a disease course of 3-12 months compared to that in patients with a course of more than 12 months.
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Percutaneous radiofrequency thermocoagulation (PRT) is an established treatment for glossopharyngeal neuralgia (GPN). However, the effectiveness of conventional single-needle PRT is limited due to the glossopharyngeal nerve's unique anatomical location. ⋯ This study's findings suggest that CT-guided double-needle PRT is a safe and effective alternative treatment for GPN.