Articles: back-pain.
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The use of technetium-99m methylene diphosphonate single-photon emission tomography/computed tomography (99mTc-MDP SPECT/CT) of the spine and sacrum has increased over the past years; however, there is little information about the optimal clinical role and true clinical impact of this modality. ⋯ 99mTc-MDP SPECT/CT of the spine and sacrum is most frequently used for the diagnosis and management of pain. It helps identify several potential pain generators, is often used in patients who have a near-contemporaneous MRI, and has an impact on the procedural and/or conservative management in most patients. In addition, several areas in need of future research to establish the optimal clinical role of this modality were identified.
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Retrospective case-control study. ⋯ This is the most detailed comparison of coccygeal morphology and morphometry in adults with and without coccydynia investigated using cross-sectional imaging. Anatomical differences in joint fusion and coccygeal curvature may either predispose to the development of coccydynia or arise as a result of this condition.
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Spontaneous spinal epidural hematomas are rare but are of differential diagnostic importance due to the potentially dramatic progression through to irreversible neurological deficits. At the beginning the clinical symptoms are non-specific and the development of neurological deficits leads to the diagnosis. We present the case of a 73-year-old female patient who initially reported uncharacteristic neck pain and developed incomplete quadriplegia during the next day as well as the case of a 78-year-old male patient, who complained of acute back pain and developed paraplegia a short time afterwards. Early microsurgery and spinal canal evacuation led to complete remission of the neurological deficits in both cases.
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Review Meta Analysis
Epidural Injections for Spinal Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Evaluating the "Control" Injections in Randomized Controlled Trials.
Epidural steroid injection is the most frequently performed pain procedure. This study of epidural steroid "control" injections aimed to determine whether epidural nonsteroid injections constitute a treatment or true placebo in comparison with nonepidural injections for back and neck pain treatment. ⋯ Epidural nonsteroid injections may provide improved benefit compared with nonepidural injections on some measures, though few, low-quality studies directly compared controlled treatments, and only short-term outcomes (≤12 weeks) were examined.
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Increased opioid prescribing for back pain and other chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions has been accompanied by dramatic increases in prescription-opioid addiction and fatal overdose. Opioid-related risks appear to increase with dose. ⋯ Given the lack of large, long-term randomised trials, recent epidemiologic data suggest the need for caution when considering long-term use of opioids to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain, particularly at higher dosage levels. Principles for achieving more selective and cautious use of opioids for chronic musculoskeletal pain are proposed.