Articles: neuropathic-pain.
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Scrambler therapy (ST) is an electro-analgesia therapy for the noninvasive treatment of chronic neuropathic and cancer pain based on a new generation of medical device that uses 5 artificial neurons and is based on a novel theoretical model the differs from gate control theory. The active principle with Scrambler Therapy is such that synthetic "non-pain" information is transmitted by C fiber surface receptors. ⋯ The goal of Scrambler Therapy is to eliminate pain during treatment and allow for long-lasting analgesia after a series of 10 to 12 consecutive treatments performed over a 2-week period. The aim of this review is to clarify the underlying theory of Scrambler Therapy and describe the appropriate usage method that maximizes its effectiveness while reducing bias and deepen the explanation of the artificial neuron technology associated with Scrambler Therapy.
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The Ochsner journal · Jan 2019
Case ReportsLaminoplasty for Cervical Spinal Cord Stimulator Implantation in Patients With Cervical Spondylosis and Fusion: A Technical Note.
Background: Epidural spinal cord stimulator (SCS) implantation is a commonly used strategy for treating refractory neuropathic pain, but the literature on the technical aspects of cervical SCS surgery remains scarce. Degenerative cervical stenosis and prior fusion surgery are relatively frequent conditions in this population, and the optimal method for cervical lead placement among such patients has not been established. Decompressive laminectomy may be required for cervical SCS placement in the presence of spinal stenosis. ⋯ Case Series: We present a surgical technique for cervical SCS implantation and the cases of 3 patients with significant spinal stenosis and/or prior fusion. In these patients, the paddle lead placement was safely achieved using cervical laminoplasty techniques. Conclusion: In addition to stabilizing the epidural paddle lead, laminoplasty offers several potential advantages compared to decompression alone.
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Cav3 channels play an important role in modulating chronic pain. However, less is known about the functional changes of Cav3 channels in superficial spinal dorsal horn in neuropathic pain states. Here, we examined the effect of partial sciatic nerve ligation (PSNL) on either expression or electrophysiological properties of Cav3 channels in superficial spinal dorsal horn. ⋯ However, in Cav3.2 knockout mice, PSNL predominantly attenuated mechanical allodynia but not thermal hyperalgesia. In addition, the results of whole-cell patch-clamp recordings showed that both the overall proportion of Cav3 current-expressing neurons and the Cav3 current density in individual neurons were elevated in spinal lamina II neurons from PSNL rats, which could not be recapitulated in Cav3.2 knockout mice. Altogether, our findings reveal that the elevated functional Cav3.2 channels in superficial spinal dorsal horn may contribute to the mechanical allodynia in PSNL-induced neuropathic pain model.
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The size and modular structure of versican and its gene suggest the existence of multiple splice variants. We have identified, cloned, and sequenced a previously unknown exon located within the noncoding gene sequence downstream of exon 8. This exon, which we have named exon 8β, specifies two stop-codons. mRNAs of the versican gene with exon 8β are predicted to be constitutively degraded by nonsense-mediated RNA decay. Here, we tested the hypothesis that these transcripts become expressed in a model of neuropathic pain.