Pain physician
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Case Reports
Permanent implantation of peripheral nerve stimulator for combat injury-related ilioinguinal neuralgia.
A peripheral nerve stimulator (PNS) can be an alternative for long-term pain relief refractory to conventional therapeutic modalities. We present a case of chronic incapacitating ilioinguinal neuralgia, which was successfully managed with permanent implantation of a peripheral nerve stimulator. A 26-year-old active duty African American man was referred to the University Pain Clinic with left ilioinguinal neuralgia due to shrapnel injury during his military service 6 years prior to his visit. ⋯ Despite our limited understanding of its exact mechanism of action, it can be considered as a therapeutic potential for a few carefully selected, intractable cases. Its minimally invasive and reversible features make PNS a favorable option for these patients. The stringent and rigorous screening procedures for suitable candidacy, documentation of previously failed treatments, psychiatric evaluation, and 3-5 days of preplacement trial, improve the success rate.
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Echogenicity of regional anesthesia needles has been tested on different preclinical models; however, previous studies were done in an ideal experimental setting utilizing high-frequency insonation and superficially located targets. Because steep-angle deep injections are typically required for spinal and other chronic pain procedures, and low-frequency transducers are used, further feasibility study is warranted. ⋯ The SonoPlex needle appeared to have better echogenicity in this study. While non-echogenic Quincke-type needle visibility was adequate in superficial placements, it was limited in deep injections. An imaging enhancement is effective in improving needle visibility and should be used whenever possible.
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Observational Study
Fluoroscopy procedure and equipment changes to reduce staff radiation exposure in the interventional spine suite.
Fluoroscopic guided percutaneous interventional spine procedures are increasingly performed in recent years as they have been shown to be target specific and enhance patient safety. However, ionizing radiation has been associated with stochastic effects such as cancer and genetic defects as well as deterministic effects such as cataracts, erythema, epilation, and even death. These are dose related, and hence, measures should be taken to minimize radiation exposure to patients and health care personnel to reduce these adverse effects. ⋯ Spinal injection technique and equipment changes in the procedure suite significantly reduced the rate of effective dose to the clinical staff.
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The spread of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) has been well documented. Many severe refractory long-standing patients have total body pain (TBP) that evolved from a single extremity injury. ⋯ TBP and objective sensory loss occur in 20% of patients with refractory long-standing CRPS.
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Cancer-induced bone pain (CIBP) is a severe chronic pain that is less than adequately controlled by conventional analgesics. Prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) has been considered as a diagnostic marker for prostate cancer and its transmembrane isoform has been reported to play an antinociceptive effect in neuropathic and inflammatory pain. However, it remains unknown whether it has an analgesic effect on CIBP and what are the underlying mechanisms. ⋯ Our study demonstrated that PAP was involved in the maintenance of CIBP and could effectively suppress central sensitization by increasing spinal extracellular adenosine concentrations to exert a significant antinociceptive effect via the adenosine A1 receptor in CIBP rats. Therefore, our experiments suggest that the endogenous enzyme PAP may be a promising candidate for CIBP treatment.