Articles: back-pain.
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The anticonvulsants, carbamazepine, clonazepam, phenytoin, and valproic acid are capable of depressing attacks of shooting pain in neuralgia. Shooting pain is perceived in trigeminal, intercostal, and other neuralgias, as a consequence of infectious diseases such as herpes zoster, and in the course of polyneuropathies of various causes. It is due to injury of nociceptive afferents, which generate bursts of activity in response to appropriate environmental changes. ⋯ Both carbamazepine and phenytoin block synaptic transmission of neuronal hyperactivity by a direct depressant action that includes reduction of sodium conductance and by activation of inhibitory control. Clonazepam and valproic acid act by enhancing GABA-mediated inhibition of synaptic transmission. Carbamazepine is by far the most widely used compound; phenytoin, clonazepam, and valproic acid are not so popular because of their side effects.
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In a retrospective, controlled clinical study the life events of 35 patients suffering from chronic low back pain (LBP) and a matched sample of 23 patients with neurotic depression (ICD 300.4) were investigated. The pain patients formed two groups: 19 patients with definite organic diagnosis (IASP code 530.96) and 16 without (adequate) organic lesion (IASP code 510.99). Somatic diseases (other than LBP), injuries and operations, as well as psychic trauma (feelings of shame, narcissistic traumatisations and object losses) were defined and counted as documented in the patient's histories. ⋯ Object losses occur equally often in all groups, apart from the initial year, when depressive patients have to cope with even more losses than the others. These results are discussed considering the development of chronic pain syndromes, the influence of age and their consequences for models of illness. There is convincing evidence, that physical injury is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for the development of chronic pain and that chronic pain is in essence an emotional disease based on unresolved unconscious conflicts requiring psychotherapy.
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Special procedures are performed with increasing frequency in the PACU. One procedure, the epidural corticosteroid injection, is commonplace in many PACUs. The author reviews the rationale, technique, and nursing considerations of this procedure.
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The lumbar facet joint has long been considered a significant source of low back pain (LBP). Facet blocks with anesthetic and cortisone, and even facet denervation procedures, have been recommended as treatment for patients with LBP. The literature, however, fails to conclusively document the role of the facet in the production of LBP. Based on a review of the literature and the author's clinical studies, the following statements appear to be appropriate and defensible: (1) The lumbar facet joints are very important biomechanically. (2) The facet is not a common or clear source of significant pain. (3) The facet syndrome is not a reliable clinical diagnosis. (4) Injection of intraarticular saline into the facets in control cases is as effective as local anesthetic and steroids in relieving the patient's pain temporarily. (5) Response to facet joint injection in patients with LBP does not correlate with or predict their clinical results after solid posterior lumbar fusion, and it should not be used preoperatively as a clinical criterion in selection of patients for fusion. (6) More prospective, controlled and randomized clinical studies are recommended.
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The aim of this study was to investigate physical impairment in patients with chronic low back pain, to develop a method of clinical evaluation suitable for routine use, and to consider the relationship between pain, disability, and physical impairment. Twenty-seven physical tests were investigated. Permanent anatomic and structural impairments of spinal deformities, spinal fractures, surgical scarring, and neurologic deficits were excluded as not relevant to the patient with low back pain in the absence of nerve root involvement or previous surgery. ⋯ This scale provides an objective clinical evaluation that meets the criteria for evaluating physical impairment, yet is simple, reliable, and suitable for routine clinical use. It should, however, be emphasized that all the tests included in the final scale are measures of current functional limitation rather than of permanent anatomic or structural impairment. This raises questions about the physical basis of permanent disability due to chronic low back pain.