Pain physician
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Comparative Study
Comparisons of Lesion Volumes and Shapes Produced by a Radiofrequency System with a Cooled, a Protruding, or a Monopolar Probe.
Radiofrequency (RF) ablation for denervation has been utilized for decades in chronic pain management. This relies on the proper targeting of the affected nerve which may be obtained by creating an ablation lesion with a shape and volume that optimizes targeting. Various systems designed to improve lesion size are available. These include cooling the active tip (cooled-RF) and protruding the RF electrode outside the active tip (PERF). ⋯ The results indicate that the lesion produced with a cooled-RF system (17 g, 4 mm tip) is significantly larger than that produced with either of the other systems trialed (18 g or 20 g, 10 mm active tip protruding electrode or 16 g, 18 g, or 20 g monopolar electrode). Interestingly, a 16 g, 10 mm active tip monopolar electrode produced a larger lesion than the one produced with the 18 g protruding electrode. Key words: Radiofrequency, ablation, lesion shape, lesion size, cooled-RF, protruding electrode RF, monopolar RF.
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Previous studies have reported a high incidence of re-collapse of the augmented vertebrae after percutaneous vertebral augmentation (PVA) for osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (OVCFs) with intravertebral vacuum cleft (IVC) during long-term follow-up. Previous IVC might be considered an important predisposing factor for re-collapse, but the prior studies could not find a significant correlation. ⋯ PVA treatment was initially effective in all patients with OVCFs. However, significant re-collapse of the augmented vertebrae with IVCs, especially those with inferior endplate IVCs, was found with long-term follow-up. Key words: Intravertebral vacuum cleft, percutaneous vertebral augmentation, osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures, affected vertebrae, augmented vertebrae.
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Cervical disc disease is a common and occasionally disabling condition, occurring as a natural consequence of aging in the vast majority of the adult population. Percutaneous epidural neuroplasty (PEN) has been used to deliver highly concentrated drugs for chronic neck pain and to prevent scarring in cases refractory to conventional epidural blocks. However, the clinical course after PEN in cervical disc disease is not well-documented. ⋯ Cervical PEN was shown to be a safe and effective treatment for neck and arm pain in single-level disc disease during 12 months of follow-up. Key words: Neck pain, cervical disc disease, pain management, percutaneous epidural neuroplasty, adhesiolysis, clinical course.
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Research into interventional techniques in managing chronic spinal pain continues to be challenging, mystifying, confusing, and biased. Insight, or lack thereof, into placebo and nocebo phenomena contributes mightily to these difficulties. Unfortunately, placebo-nocebo responses are the subject of numerous controversies and challenges from not only a research perspective, but also clinical perspective. ⋯ This review focuses on a multitude of controversies surrounding placebo and nocebo phenomena in research and clinical applications. The discussion includes a focus on unsolved, forgotten, and ignored features of placebo responses in medicine, and provides an appropriate understanding of placebo and nocebo phenomena in interventional pain management. To that effect, this review also describes therapeutic placebos, research with open placebos, and improvements in understanding clinical applications of present interventional pain management research.
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Multicenter Study
The Relationship Between Body Mass Index and Fluoroscopy Time During Intraarticular Hip Injection: A Multicenter Cohort Study.
Higher body mass index (BMI) is associated with difficulty in obtaining imaging studies. While there is a small body of literature regarding the relationship between fluoroscopy time and BMI during injections for pain management, this has not been studied for intraarticular (IA) hip injections. Further, in academic training centers, trainee involvement may affect this relationship. ⋯ Hip, injections, obesity, overweight, body mass index, fluoroscopy, radiation, pain.