Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain
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The LANSS and S-LANSS questionnaires represent two widely accepted and validated instruments used to assist the identification of neuropathic pain worldwide. ⋯ The LANSS and the S-LANSS diagnostic tools have been translated and validated into the Greek language and can be adequately used to assist the identification of neuropathic pain in everyday clinical practice.
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As a part of aging, hip fractures are becoming more common. The connection between increased pain and a poor outcome has previously been shown. Therefore, even in prehospital situations, analgesic therapy appears to be reasonable. We established a prospective study with 153 patients to evaluate the patients' pain levels during the prehospital phase of treatment and prehospital analgesic therapy. ⋯ Only a minority of patients with hip fractures received prehospital analgesia. The administration of prehospital analgesia was associated with significant pain relief.
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Tarlov or perineural cysts (TC) are commonly overlooked as a cause of sacral and ischial pain, and urogenital and bowel problems. TC can be seen on MRI, but are often considered asymptomatic. This is especially true for smaller cysts. ⋯ We suggest that electromyography of the sacral nerve roots can be a reasonable tool for the diagnosis of symptomatic TC, as well as for the differentiation from other pathological entities causing sacral and ischial pain. Moreover, using electromyography it was also documented that smaller cysts of < 1 cm can cause nerve damage. Therefore incidence of symptomatic TC may be higher than initially thought.
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Different minimally invasive procedures are used to treat lumbar disk herniation. It is important to differentiate these techniques due to their specific effects and the disparate technical issues associated with each. This report describes a successful case involving the use of mechanical decompression in conjunction with radiofrequency ablation to treat a patient with pain and neurological deficits due to an extruded disk hernia. ⋯ A 43-year-old male had magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrating an extruded disk herniation in the left foraminal region, compression at the left spinal nerve root, and obliteration of the left foraminal entrance of the L5-S1 distribution. In the operating room, sufficient disk material was removed using grasping forceps, and then, the Disc-FX system with a Trigger-Flex probe (Elliquence, Baldwin, NY, U.S.A.) was inserted. Modulation of the annulus was performed in bipolar hemo mode, and nucleus ablation was conducted in bipolar turbo mode within a 1.7-MHz frequency range. Among the available minimally invasive techniques, newly developed technologies may become important treatment options if they enable faster rehabilitation, lower rates of recurrence, shorter hospital stays, and reduced medical costs.
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Review Meta Analysis
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy: A New Treatment for Chronic Pain?
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is a treatment providing 100% oxygen at a pressure greater than that at sea level. HBOT is becoming increasingly recognized as a potential treatment modality for a broad range of ailments, including chronic pain. In this narrative review, we discuss the current understanding of pathophysiology of nociceptive, inflammatory and neuropathic pain, and the body of animal studies addressing mechanisms by which HBOT may ameliorate these different types of pain. Finally, we review clinical studies suggesting that HBOT may be useful in treating chronic pain syndromes, including chronic headache, fibromyalgia, complex regional pain syndrome, and trigeminal neuralgia. ⋯ HBOT has been shown to reduce pain using animal models. Early clinical research indicates HBOT may also be useful in modulating human pain; however, further studies are required to determine whether HBOT is a safe and efficacious treatment modality for chronic pain conditions.