Current pain and headache reports
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This review will focus on the most recent information regarding the ICHD-3 definition of diving headache as well as other important causes of diving headache that are not listed in the ICHD-3 classification system. The paper will discuss etiology, diagnosis, and management of these disorders, focusing, when possible, on the newest research available. ICHD-3 diving headache is due to hypercapnia and is treated accordingly with oxygen. ⋯ Correctly determining the underlying cause of the diving headache is critical to management and relies on history taking and physical exam. The pathophysiology of newly described types of diving headache, such as diving ascent headache, remains under investigation but may be related to other homeostatic headache causes, such as airplane headache. Further investigation may yield more information regarding management as well as possible insight into other headache disorders.
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Curr Pain Headache Rep · May 2019
Correction to: A Review of Current Denervation Techniques for Chronic Hip Pain: Anatomical and Technical Considerations.
In the original publication, the legend in the Figure 1 caption were missing and Table 2 was not presented correctly.
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Subarachnoid hemorrhage is a serious and life-threatening medical condition which commonly presents with an acute headache. Unfortunately, it remains frequently misdiagnosed at initial presentation with dire consequences in terms of patient morbidity and mortality. The goal of this paper is to review salient features in the clinical history, as well as recently developed clinical decision rules, which can help determine which patients warrant further investigation for subarachnoid hemorrhage when the initial presentation is that of an acute headache. ⋯ A recent prospective observational study showed that occipital location, stabbing quality, presence of meningism, and onset of headache during exertion were characteristics in the clinical history that can distinguish the headache of SAH from other causes. The Ottawa headache rule is a clinical decision tool which was developed to help identify patients presenting to the ED with acute non-traumatic headache who require investigation to rule out subarachnoid hemorrhage. Using this tool, it is recommended that patients who meet any one of the following 6 criteria are investigated further: Onset greater than or equal to 40 years, presence of neck pain or stiffness, witnessed loss of consciousness, onset during exertion, thunder clap headache (pain peaking within 1 s), or limited neck flexion on exam. An informed and thoughtful approach that takes into account the timing, presentation, risk factors, and resources, as discussed here, should help distinguish between the patient that warrants further evaluation and intervention for SAH and one who does not. The Ottawa SAH rule is a useful clinical decision tool for young inexperienced clinicians in order to avoid missed diagnoses. However, its clinical value is limited by its low specificity. Clinical decision tools with higher specificity are needed.
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Curr Pain Headache Rep · May 2019
ReviewRegional Nerve Blocks-Best Practice Strategies for Reduction in Complications and Comprehensive Review.
Understanding the etiologies of the complications associated with regional anesthesia and implementing methods to reduce their occurrence provides an opportunity to foster safer practices in the delivery of regional anesthesia. ⋯ Neurologic injuries following peripheral nerve block (PNB) and neuraxial blocks are rare, with most being transient. However, long-lasting and devastating sequelae can occur with regional anesthesia. Risk factors for neurologic injury following PNB include type of block, injection in the presence of deep sedation or general anesthesia, presence of existing neuropathy, mechanical trauma from the needle, pressure injury, intraneural injection, neuronal ischemia, iatrogenic injury related to surgery, and local anesthetic neurotoxicity. The present investigation discusses regional blocks, complications of regional blocks, risk factors, site-specific limitations, specific complications and how to prevent them from happening, avoiding complications in regional anesthesia, and the future of regional anesthesia.
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Curr Pain Headache Rep · May 2019
ReviewTraditional and Novel Migraine Therapy in the Aging Population.
Migraine is a common disabling disorder that affects 36 million Americans. The clinical features of migraine are less typical in the people above age 60, making the diagnosis and treatment difficult in this group. ⋯ This discussion will include an overview of traditional treatments for the acute and preventive treatment of migraine, and considerations for their use in patient populations above age 60. In addition, we will discuss newer agents that show a more promising safety profile.