Pain physician
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Reported data indicate that the curative effect of percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) on the patients with intravertebral vacuum cleft (IVC) is worse than on those without IVC. ⋯ RC-PVP, with the destruction of IVC, may lead to better clinical outcomes with fewer complications.
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Meta Analysis
Comparison of Different Operative Approaches for Lumbar Disc Herniation: A Network Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review.
New approaches and technologies can be beneficial for patients but also bring corresponding complications. Traditional pairwise meta-analyses cannot be used to comprehensively rank all surgical approaches. ⋯ Compared with other approaches used to treat LDH, PED had the best safety and efficacy in general, and TD had the lowest reoperation rate. Finally, we recommended PED for LDH.
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Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is an extremely prevalent disease, whose etiology is often multifactorial. Facet joint arthropathy is one of the most common causes of CLBP. Facet joints are innervated by the medial branches of the primary and adjacent level dorsal rami and are, therefore, key potential targets for the symptomatic management of CLBP. A lumbar medial branch nerve block (MBB) procedure is often used to assist in the diagnosis of facet mediated CLBP. For unclear reasons, some patients experience protracted relief of CLBP after diagnostic MBBs alone. ⋯ In select patients, MBB may produce protracted relief of CLBP symptoms. The authors present distinct hypotheses which may help explain the therapeutic effects of diagnostic MBB procedures.
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Selective nerve root block (SNRB) has been used to facilitate the diagnostic process when radiologic abnormalities are not correlated with clinical symptomatology in patients with cervical radiculopathy. Meanwhile, minimally invasive posterior percutaneous endoscopic cervical foraminotomy and discectomy (PPECFD) has been widely used to treat cervical radiculopathy because of its advantages. However, combination of these 2 procedures in the treatment of cervical radiculopathy with diagnostic uncertainty has not been reported. ⋯ Diagnostic SNRB may be a helpful tool to identify the origin of cervical radicular pain for patients with diagnostic uncertainty. With the guidance of SNRB, PPECFD is likely to be an effective and safe option for the treatment of cervical radiculopathy with diagnostic uncertainty.
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Subsequent vertebral fracture (SVF) is one of the most common complications of percutaneous vertebral augmentation (PVA), which leads to lower back pain in patients. Low bone mineral density (BMD) is an independent risk factor for SVF. BMD measured using computed tomography (CT) trabecular attenuation correlates closely with BMD. ⋯ Computed tomography, Hounsfield units, vertebral fracture, osteoporosis, percutaneous vertebral augmentation.