Pain physician
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effects of stellate ganglion block on sedation as assessed by bispectral index in normal healthy volunteers.
The sympathetic nervous system plays an important role in the arousal response. Recently, the stellate ganglion block (SGB) was found to effectively treat anxiety and night awakening in humans and decrease electroencephalogram (EEG) indices of arousal responses in rat. But, the role of the sympathetic block in human arousal responses has not yet been studied. ⋯ This study showed that SGB has a sedative effect in normal healthy volunteers, as evidenced by decreased OAA/S scores and BIS values.
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Transforaminal epidural steroid injection (TFESI) of corticosteroid is frequently employed to mitigate the painful and disabling symptoms of lumbar disc herniation. However, the treatment outcome of TFESI in patients with radicular pain and inflamed neural structures as assessed by contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has not been forthcoming. ⋯ The improvement of NRS and ODI in the enhanced group was significantly greater than those of the non-enhanced group after TFESI. Radicular pain and functional impairment in the presence of gadolinium enhancing spinal neural structures and lumbar disc herniation may be more responsive to TFESI than patients without enhancing neural structures.
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The obturator internus (OI) muscle is important in adult chronic noninfectious pelvic, perineal, gluteal, and retrotrochanteric pain syndromes. Evaluation and management of these patients' pain can be challenging because of the complex anatomy of this region, broad differential diagnosis, and lack of specific physical examination findings. Consequently, several clinicians have advocated the use of image guided injections to assist in the accurate diagnosis of OI-related symptoms and provide symptomatic relief to affected patients. ⋯ The second patient underwent a right intrapelvic OI muscle injection with bupivacaine 0.25% and 40 mg methylprednisolone. The average pre- and postprocedural visual analog scale scores were 8 out of 10 and 1 out of 10, respectively, with a self-reported 90% pain reduction. Larger scale studies should be undertaken to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy and generalized accuracy of this technique.
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Spina bifida is a common birth defect affecting the central nervous system and represents a group of neural tube defects caused by congenital dysraphic malformations of the vertebral column and/or spinal cord. The anatomy in these patients is challenging and includes structural and vascular abnormalities including arteriovenous malformation or fistulae, and fatty substitution of paravertebral tissues. ⋯ Occult spinal dysraphism poses a clinical dilemma for interventional pain specialists managing those patients with lumbar radiculopathy. We report a case of occult spinal dysraphism discovered following the development of post-traumatic radicular symptoms.
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Temporomandibular joint syndrome, or Costen syndrome, is a clinically diagnosed disorder whose most common symptoms include joint pain and clicking, difficulty opening the mouth, and temporomandibular joint discomfort. The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is supplied by the auriculotemporal nerve, a collateral branch of the mandibular nerve (the V3 branch of the trigeminal nerve). ⋯ Patients affected with TMJ syndrome who do not respond to conservative treatments may find a solution in peripheral nerve stimulation, a simple technique with a relatively low level of complications.