Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain
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The styloid process arising from the temporal bone is normally about 2.5 cm in length. For various reasons, including trauma and inflammation, it may become elongated. This elongated styloid process, when symptomatic with clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of local compression or neuropathic pain, is termed Eagle syndrome. ⋯ Interventional and surgical options are pursued when these fail. Fluoroscopy is usually used to position the needle adjacent to the styloid process for injecting steroid and or local anesthetic. We describe a case of a 41-year-old woman with Eagle syndrome who failed conservative management and subsequently underwent an ultrasound-guided peristyloid steroid injection with short-duration pain relief.
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Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a painful, debilitating affliction that is often difficult to treat. It has become common international practice to use spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for the treatment of CRPS as other therapies fail to provide adequate relief, quality of life, or improvement in function. This comprehensive outcome-specific systematic review of the use of SCS for CRPS was performed to elucidate the available evidence with focus on clinically relevant patient-specific outcomes. ⋯ Spinal cord stimulation remains a favorable and effective modality for treating CRPS with high-level evidence (1B+) supporting its role in improving CRPS patients' perceived pain relief, pain score, and quality of life. A paucity of evidence for functional improvements, resolution of CRPS signs, sleep hygiene, psychological impact, and analgesic sparing effects mandate further investigation before conclusions can be drawn for these specific outcomes.
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Rheumatic and joint diseases, as exemplified by osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, are among the most widespread painful and disabling pathologies across the globe. Given the continuing rise in life expectancy, their prevalence is destined to grow. Osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease, is, in particular, on its way to becoming the fourth leading cause of disability worldwide by 2020, with the rising incidence of obesity in addition to age being important factors. ⋯ In addition, persistent activation of mast cells facilitates the development of spinal neuroinflammation mediated through their interaction with microglia. Unfortunately, current treatment strategies for rheumatic and articular disease are symptomatic and do little to limit disease progression. Research now should be directed at therapeutic modalities that target osteoarticular structural elements and thereby delaying disease progression and joint replacement.
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New advances in spinal cord stimulation have led to improved treatment of patients suffering from chronic pain. While the overall safety of newer stimulation devices has been established, no published reports exist regarding safety considerations when these devices are implanted in patients with a preexisting cardiac device. ⋯ While others have reported safety during traditional SCS in patients with implanted cardiac devices, this is the first case report to describe safe and effective use of high-frequency SCS in a patient with an implanted cardiac device.
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Patients with chronic pain conditions such as neuropathic pain frequently experience delays in diagnosis and treatment. Ideally, all patients should be treated in a timely manner, but in those patients with more established disease it is important to know that approved treatments remain effective. ⋯ Pregabalin significantly improves pain irrespective of the length of time since onset of neuropathic pain.