Pain physician
-
Clinical guidelines are a constructive response to the reality that practicing physicians require assistance in assimilating and applying the exponentially expanding, often contradictory, body of medical knowledge. They attempt to define practices that meet the needs of most patients under most circumstances. Ideally, specific clinical recommendations contained within practice guidelines are systematically developed by expert panels who have access to all the available evidence, have an understanding of the clinical problem, and have clinical experience with the procedure being assessed, as well as knowledge of relevant research methods. The recent development of American Pain Society (APS) guidelines has created substantial controversy because of their perceived lack of objective analysis and recommendations perceived to be biased due to conflicts of interest. ⋯ The current reassessment, using appropriate methodology, shows evidence similar to APS guidelines for several procedures, but differs extensively from published APS guidelines for multiple other procedures including caudal epidural injections, lumbar facet joint nerve blocks, lumbar radiofrequency neurotomy, and percutaneous adhesiolysis.
-
Clinical Trial
Pharmacodynamic profiles of ketamine (R)- and (S)- with 5-day inpatient infusion for the treatment of complex regional pain syndrome.
Ketamine might be effective in blocking central sensitization of pain transmission neurons through its effect on NMDA receptors in refractory Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) patients. At higher doses, ketamine infusions can be associated with significant risks; outpatient therapy requires return visits for a 10-day period with variable efficacy and duration. ⋯ A 5-day ketamine infusion for the treatment of severe CRPS provided significant (p <0.05) pain relief by Day 3 compared to baseline. The pain relief experienced on Day 2 of the infusion continued to improve over the 5-day infusion period and correlated with the maximum plasma levels of ketamine and norketamine. We speculate that downstream metabolites of ketamine and norketamine might be playing a role in its therapeutic efficacy.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Efficacy of intrathecal midazolam with or without epidural methylprednisolone for management of post-herpetic neuralgia involving lumbosacral dermatomes.
Post herpetic neuralgia is a chronic neuropathic pain syndrome which remains one of the most difficult pain disorders to treat. Epidural injection of methylprednisolone with or without local anesthetic provides relief for neuralgia for a short duration only. Recent studies have shown a promising anti nociceptive effect for intrathecal midazolam, a water soluble benzodiazepine, due to its interaction with benzodiazepine-GABA-A receptor complex within the spinal cord. ⋯ The dose-response relationship of intrathecal midazolam was not evaluated in our study, so further study should be conducted with different doses of intrathecal midazolam for management of PHN.