Pain physician
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Prior literatures have shown inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) could increase fibromyalgia (FM) risk. However, studies about gender and age distributions of FM risk among patients with IBD are rare. With large study samples, this study aimed to evaluate the FM risk among IBD patients with different gender and different age. ⋯ Inflammation, inflammatory bowel disease, fibromyalgia, Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database.
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Chronic back pain is a prevalent disease and has a high impact in daily life. Implantable devices (IDs) for chronic pain management include spinal cord stimulation (SCS) systems and intrathecal drug delivery (ITDD) pumps. The number of ITDD implants have increased exponentially in the last decade. The number of complications, such as infections, are also more prevalent. Infection management guidelines are needed to standarize our clinical practice and define protocols of explantation. ⋯ Chronic pain, spinal cord stimulation infection, neurostimulator, intrathecal drug delivery pump, complication, infection, explantation.
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Among the various causes of vertigo, the so-called cervicogenic vertigo (CV) has been the most controversial. However, perturbations of proprioceptive signals and abnormal activity of the cervical afferents can induce vertigo. Medial branch blocks (MBBs) are a diagnostic tool designed to test whether a patient's neck pain is mediated by one or more of the medial branches of the dorsal rami of the spinal nerve. It is unknown whether MBBs are also suitable for testing symptoms other than pain. ⋯ Cervicogenic vertigo, medial branch block, facet joint, zygapophysial joint, neck pain, differential diagnosis.
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Meta Analysis
Is Vitamin D Supplementation Effective for Low Back Pain? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Low back pain (LBP) is the leading cause of years lived with disability worldwide. Current intervention strategies are failing to reduce the enormous global burden of LBP and are prompting researchers to investigate alternative management strategies, such as vitamin D supplementation. Vitamin D supplementation appears to down regulate pro-inflammatory cytokines which lead to pain and up regulate anti-inflammatory cytokines that reduce inflammation. These mechanisms might explain the increasing interest in the use of vitamin D supplementation for LBP. ⋯ Vitamin D, low back pain, chronic low back pain, alfacalcidol, osteoporosis, vertebral fractures, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D, systematic review.