Current pain and headache reports
-
Curr Pain Headache Rep · Jan 2025
ReviewCryoneurolysis for Post Operative Pain Following Chest Surgery: Contemporary Evidence and Future Directions.
Management of acute and chronic pain following surgery remains a critical patient management challenge, with poor pain management associated with negative patient satisfaction, increased opioid consumption and a high incidence of adverse events. Chest surgery specifically carries a high incidence of significant early and chronic post operative pain. The high incidence, prolonged duration of pain, and adverse effects associated with chronic opioid analgesia, has given rise to the need for non-opioid pain management strategies. ⋯ While cryoneurolysis was first developed over fifty years ago, its utilization was limited by technical implementation challenges and limitations in identifying target structures percutaneously. Advances both in cryoneurolysis delivery devices as well as ultrasound have reinvigorated interest in the technique, with recent studies highlighting the advantages of cryoneurolysis, including its favorable side effect profile, long duration of efficacy and relative technical simplicity. The purpose of this review is to examine techniques for cryoneurolysis, and explore recent evidence for safety and efficacy of the technique following different surgical procedures.
-
The purpose of this review is to provide the most recent update and summary on the consideration, benefits and application of regional anesthesia in the ICU setting, as it pertains to the management of perioperative pain. ⋯ Regional anesthesia and analgesia have become ubiquitous in the perioperative setting, with numerous indications and benefits. As integral part of the multimodal analgesia approach, various regional blocks have been increasingly utilized in critically ill patients. We focus this review on various regional techniques employed for critically ill patients after cardiac, thoracic, and major abdominal surgery, including neuraxial and novel truncal blocks. Effective pain management in critically ill patients poses many challenges and is extremely important. Regional anesthesia, in combination with other analgesia modalities, while still under-utilized, can help reduce acute perioperative pain, stress response, opioid use and related side effects and expedite recovery and improve clinical outcomes.
-
Curr Pain Headache Rep · Jan 2025
ReviewDiagnosis and Management of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI): A Comprehensive, Patient-centered Approach.
The purpose of this review is to provide an update regarding recent research and recommendations in the care of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). ⋯ New diagnostic criteria for mTBI have recently been developed by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine through the Delphi method and this will help to standardize assessment, diagnosis, and treatment. Symptoms of mTBI are diverse and can sometimes become persistent. Treatment of mTBI should be patient-centered and may require subspeciality referral and coordinated, inter-disciplinary, or multi-disciplinary treatment.
-
Curr Pain Headache Rep · Jan 2025
ReviewPain and Perception: Exploring Psychedelics as Novel Therapeutic Agents in Chronic Pain Management.
Chronic pain affects approximately 1.5 billion people worldwide, representing the leading cause of disability and a significant financial burden on healthcare systems. Conventional treatments, such as opioids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, are frequently linked to adverse effects, including dependency and gastrointestinal issues, and often offer limited long-term relief. This review explores the potential of psychedelics, including psilocybin, LSD, and ketamine, as alternative therapeutic agents in chronic pain management. ⋯ These substances modulate pain perception through actions on serotonergic and glutamatergic systems and may promote neuroplasticity, offering novel pathways for pain relief. Specifically, the review details the pharmacologic actions of psychedelics, their effects on chronic pain syndromes such as cancer pain, migraines, and neuropathic pain, and their clinical implications. The safety profiles, patient responses, and analgesic properties of these compounds are examined, highlighting the need for further research to validate their efficacy and optimize their therapeutic use in pain management.
-
Management of primary headache disorders during pregnancy is limited due to known teratogenicity or unknown safety of many currently available pharmaceutical therapies. Here, we explore the safety and efficacy of non-invasive neuromodulatory devices as another treatment modality for pregnant patients. ⋯ There are six FDA-cleared, non-invasive neuromodulatory devices currently available for the management of headache that include remote electrical neuromodulation (REN), noninvasive vagal nerve stimulation (nVNS), external trigeminal nerve stimulation (eTNS), single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (sTMS), and external concurrent occipital and trigeminal neurostimulation (eCOT-NS). Neuromodulatory devices are a safe, effective, and well tolerated non-pharmacological option for migraine and other primary headache disorders. Although evidence of safety and tolerability use in pregnancy is limited, they may serve as a therapeutic alternative or adjunct to improve the care of our pregnant patients.