Articles: function.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Nov 2015
Auditory function following post-dural puncture headache treated with epidural blood patch. A long-term follow-up.
Epidural analgesia is commonly used for pain management during labor. Sometimes, accidental dural puncture (ADP) occurs causing severely debilitating headache, which may be associated with transient hearing loss. We investigated if auditory function may be impaired several years after ADP treated with epidural blood patch (EBP). ⋯ A minor hearing loss was detected in the ADP group compared to the control group in pure tone audiometry in some women and during speech-in-noise component several years after accidental dural puncture treated with an epidural blood patch. This small residual hearing loss has minor clinical significance.
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Percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) has been proven as an effective, minimally invasive procedure for the treatment of Kummell's disease in the early stages. However, a risk of cement leakage and further neurological damage remains during and after PKP, especially in chronic osteoporotic stage III Kummell's disease with severe spinal canal stenosis. ⋯ PKP is an effective, minimally invasive procedure for the treatment of chronic osteoporotic stage III Kummell's disease with severe spinal stenosis, leading to a significant relief of symptoms and improvement of functional status. INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW: This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board.
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Both increased mast cells numbers and raised immune mediator concentrations indicate immune activation in the affected skin of patients with early complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), but little is known about regional immune cell involvement in late-stage CRPS. The aim of the current study was to determine skin immune cell populations in long-standing CRPS. ⋯ Immune cell abnormalities are maintained in late-stage CRPS disease as manifest by changes in epidermal LC density and tissue resident T-cell phenotype.
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Observational Study
National Perioperative Outcomes for Intrathecal Pump, Spinal Cord Stimulator, and Peripheral Nerve Stimulator Procedures.
There is abundant literature on the long-term complications of intrathecal pumps (ITP), spinal cord stimulators (SCS), and peripheral nerve stimulators (PNS) used in the treatment of chronic pain. There is less information, however, on the perioperative complications of these procedures. ⋯ Databases such as NACOR can provide rich information on ITP, SCS, and PNS for physicians performing these procedures. In this sample, ITP procedures, performed on the patients with the most severe cormobidities and often-requiring general anesthesia, were the most likely to be associated with hemodynamic instability, inadequate pain control, and extended PACU stays. Complications relating to the ITP are also the most common reason for an operation. These findings underscore the importance of proper patient selection for ITP and other implantable pain devices, in particular for patients with malignant pain or multiple co-morbidities. To identify the root causes of complications, additional information is needed on the procedure performed (e.g., an implant vs a revision), the surgical technique used, and the device implanted, as well as on specific patient comorbidities. Such information will likely become more available as resources like NACOR expand and as electronic medical record systems and coding become more integrated.
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In a cohort of well-characterized patients with different degrees of knee osteoarthritis (OA) and pain, the aims were to utilize mechanism-based quantitative sensory testing (QST) to (1) characterize subgroups of patients; (2) analyse the associations between clinical characteristics and QST; and (3) develop and apply a QST-based knee OA composite pain sensitivity index for patient classification. ⋯ Radiological scores, contrary to clinical pain intensity/duration, were poorly associated with QST parameters. The pain sensitivity index could classify OA patients with different degrees of OA and pain.