Current pain and headache reports
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Curr Pain Headache Rep · Apr 2022
ReviewPerioperative Breast Analgesia: a Systematic Review of the Evidence for Perioperative Analgesic Medications.
Breast surgery is common and may result in significant acute as well as chronic pain. A wide range of pharmacologic interventions is available including opioids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists, anticonvulsants, and other non-opioids with analgesic properties. We present a review of the evidence for these pharmacologic interventions. A literature search of the MEDLINE database was performed via PubMed with combined terms related to breast surgery, anesthesia, and analgesia. Articles were limited to randomized controlled trial (RCT) design, adult patients undergoing elective surgery on the breast (not including biopsy), and pharmacologic interventions only. Article titles and abstracts were screened, and risk of bias assessments were performed. ⋯ The search strategy initially captured 7254 articles of which 60 articles met the full inclusion criteria. Articles were organized according to intervention: 6 opioid agonists, 14 NSAIDs and acetaminophen, 4 alpha-2 agonists, 7 NMDA receptor antagonists, 6 local anesthetics, 7 steroids, 15 anticonvulsants (one of which also discussed an NMDA antagonist), 1 antiarrhythmic, and 2 serotonin reuptake inhibitors (one of which also studied an anticonvulsant). A wide variety of medications is effective for perioperative breast analgesia, but results vary by agent and dose. The most efficacious are likely NSAIDs and anticonvulsants. Some agents may also decrease the incidence of chronic postoperative pain, including flurbiprofen, gabapentin, venlafaxine, and memantine. While many individual agents are well studied, optimal combinations of analgesic medications remain unclear.
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Curr Pain Headache Rep · Apr 2022
ReviewIntegrative, Interventional, and Non-invasive Approaches for the Treatment for Migraine During Pregnancy.
While most women with migraine improve during pregnancy, a subset may remain unchanged or even become more severe. Given the limited evidence for the use of prescription medications during pregnancy, many look to other treatment modalities. We seek to review complementary and integrative medicine, procedural interventions, and neurostimulation to empower women with safe and effective treatment options during pregnancy. ⋯ Migraine treatment during pregnancy remains controversial. While evidence is limited, prospective and retrospective reviews, as well as clinical experience support the use of nutraceuticals, procedural interventions, and neurostimulation during pregnancy when the appropriate risks and benefits are weighed. Empowering patients with information on complementary and integrative medicine, as well as non-systemic and interventional treatments, may help to reduce anxiety and headache burden during pregnancy. Various nutraceuticals have shown promise for the preventive management of migraine. Non-systemic interventions such as trigger point injections and peripheral and sphenopalatine nerve blocks offer effective treatment options with minimal side-effects. Options for neurostimulation have expanded in recent years and may offer safe and effective non-pharmacologic options for the management of migraine. It is imperative that providers do not minimize migraine during pregnancy and become aware of the treatment modalities available to help guide women through this experience.
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Curr Pain Headache Rep · Apr 2022
ReviewResting State Electrophysiological Cortical Activity: A Brain Signature Candidate for Patients with Migraine.
Studies on event-related evoked potentials have indicated that altered cortical processing of sensory stimuli is associated with migraine. However, the results depend on the experimental method and patients. Electrophysiology of resting state cortical activity has revealed compelling results regarding the pathophysiology of migraine. This review summarized the available information related to patients with episodic and chronic migraine to determine whether certain features can be used as signatures for migraine. ⋯ A recent study examined differences in resting state functional connectivity among the pain-related regions and revealed that beta connectivity was attenuated in migraine and that altered connectivity in the anterior cingulate cortex was linked to migraine chronification. These findings suggested that chronification leads to neuroplasticity in the pain areas of higher-level processing rather than in areas involved in basic sensory discrimination (i.e., primary and secondary somatosensory areas). Another study discovered that the betweenness centrality of delta band in right precuneus was significantly lower in those with longer history of migraine. Electroencephalogram may also predict the treatment outcomes in patients with chronic migraine that those with lower pre-treatment occipital alpha power tend to show greater reduction in headache frequency. Studies on resting state activity have yielded convincing findings regarding aberrant oscillatory power and functional connectivity in relation to migraine, thus contributing to identifying brain signatures for migraine. The role of such assessment in precision medicine should be further investigated.
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Curr Pain Headache Rep · Apr 2022
ReviewManaging Headache Disorders Associated with Tuberous Sclerosis and Neurofibromatosis.
Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) and neurofibromatosis (NF) are neurocutaneous disorders often encountered by neurologists in clinical practice. This article aims to familiarize adult and pediatric neurologists with common features of these disorders and headache specific evaluation and management. ⋯ Non-malignant intracranial tumors in TSC include cortical tubers (glioneuronal hamartomas), subependymal nodules or subependymal giant-cell astrocytomas (SEGA). Headache disorders in TSC are largely secondary and can cause headaches due to increased intracranial pressure, mass effect, obstructive hydrocephalus, or hemorrhage. Neurosurgical intervention is typically required for management of large SEGAs; however, in patients with increased surgical risk, newer treatment modalities may be offered such as neoadjuvant therapy with an mTOR inhibitor (mTORi). Newer studies indicate headache disorders are more prevalent in neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). Primary headache disorders can include migraine and tension-type headache, while secondary headache disorders can be due to associated neoplasms such as optic pathway gliomas or brainstem gliomas, or less commonly vasculopathies such as moyamoya syndrome. Selumetinib is an oral, small molecule mitogen-activated protein kinase (MEK) agent with antineoplastic activity which is in ongoing trials for treatment of NF1-associated pediatric low-grade gliomas. NF1 stands out as having a higher association with primary headache disorders such as migraine. This association may be related to effects of mutation of the neurofibromin gene on pathways involved in pain and migraine genesis, however, warrants future study. Care should be taken when formulating a headache treatment plan to address comorbidities and avoid medications that may be contraindicated.
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Curr Pain Headache Rep · Apr 2022
ReviewOccipital Nerve Stimulation: An Alternative Treatment of Chronic Migraine.
This paper will examine the efficacy and safety of occipital nerve stimulation as a non-pharmacological alternative treatment for migraine. ⋯ Migraine is characterized as a primary headache disorder with possible premonitory and aura phases, both of which vary greatly in symptomatology. The most common treatments for chronic migraine are pharmacological and are aimed at both acute relief (e.g., nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, triptans, and ergots) and prophylaxis (e.g., propranolol, valproic acid, and topiramate). For patients with medically refractory migraine, acute relief medication overuse can increase the risk of developing more severe and more frequent migraine attacks. Occipital nerve stimulation is a non-pharmacological alternative treatment for chronic migraine, which could eliminate the risk of adverse effects from acute relief medication overuse. Neurostimulation is thought to prevent pain by blocking signal transduction from small nociceptive fibers with non-painful signaling in larger adjacent fibers. Existing data from clinical trials support the overall safety and efficacy of occipital nerve stimulation for the treatment of chronic migraine. However, few large controlled, double-blinded studies have been conducted, due to both practical and ethical concerns. Currently, occipital nerve stimulation is available as an off-label use of neurostimulation for pain prevention but is not approved by the FDA specifically for the treatment of chronic migraine.