Current pain and headache reports
-
Curr Pain Headache Rep · Aug 2009
ReviewRadiation, chemotherapy, and symptom management in cancer-related cognitive dysfunction.
Patients with cancer are concerned about their ability to interact with friends and family and to perform activities associated with daily living. The combined effects of the disease process, its treatment with surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, and the medications used to manage symptoms may all impact cognitive function. Minimizing the effect of each treatment modality on cognitive processing requires an understanding of how these treatment modalities may impact cognition.
-
Treatment of pain in the setting of sickle cell disease remains unsatisfactory. The approach remains to treat the pain symptomatically with escalating doses of non-opioid and opioid medications while any underlying inciting process is investigated. For the majority of patients with sickle cell disease, pain will always be part of their lives. Advances in the treatment of sickle cell pain will depend on multiple approaches, including both pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic.
-
It is estimated that nearly half of the global adult population suffers from an active headache disorder, most of whom experience attacks on an episodic basis. The transition from episodic to chronic headache is a poorly understood process. ⋯ This review highlights findings from population-based studies on headache and other pain disorders and how they relate to each other, with a focus on understanding headache chronification. We also consider the limitations and methodological challenges in understanding how two different chronic pain disorders may be related.
-
Curr Pain Headache Rep · Aug 2009
ReviewStereotactic radiosurgery in the management of cancer pain.
Pain can be a significant problem for the patient with advanced cancer, particularly if bone metastases are present. Radiation therapy is efficacious and has been a mainstay in the treatment of pain from bone metastases. ⋯ The indications for radiosurgery are continually expanding, and new and more sophisticated equipment is being developed to deliver more precise treatments. This article discusses the biology, rationale, evolution, and future direction of radiosurgery for the treatment of pain related to bony metastatic disease.
-
Among the established and potential comorbidities of migraine, the temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are rarely discussed, although they are of importance for several reasons. TMD may cause headaches per se, worsen existent primary headaches, and add to the burden of headache disorders. ⋯ We discuss the similarities between both conditions, review evidence to support the idea that both disorders are comorbid, and highlight the limited evidence suggesting that TMD influence migraine progression. Finally, we discuss the importance of cutaneous allodynia mediating the TMD/frequent headache relationship.