Articles: pain-clinics.
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Post‑viral syndrome is a well‑known medical condition characterized by different levels of physical, cognitive, and emotional impairment that may persist with fluctuating severity after recovering from an acute viral infection. Unsurprisingly, COVID‑19 may also be accompanied by medium- and long‑term clinical sequelae after recovering from a SARS‑CoV‑2 infection. Although many clinical definitions have been provided, "long‑COVID" can be defined as a condition occurring in patients with a history of SARS‑CoV‑2 infection, developing 3 months from the symptoms onset, persisting for at least 2 months, and not explained by alternative diagnoses. ⋯ Long‑COVID primarily encompasses the presence of at least 1 symptom, such as fatigue, dyspnea, cognitive impairment / brain fog, postexertional malaise, memory issues, musculoskeletal pain / spasms, cough, sleep disturbances, tachycardia / palpitations, altered smell / taste perception, headache, chest pain, and depression. The most important demographic and clinical predictors to date are female sex, older age, cigarette smoking, pre‑existing medical conditions, lack of COVID‑19 vaccination, infection with pre‑Omicron SARS‑CoV‑2 variants, number of acute phase symptoms, viral load, severe / critical COVID‑19 illness, as well as invasive mechanical ventilation. Concerning the care for long‑COVID patients, the greatest challenge is the fact that this syndrome cannot be considered a single clinical entity, and thus it needs an integrated multidisciplinary management, specifically tailored to the type and severity of symptoms.
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Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is one of the most common causes of lumbocrural pain. In the past 20 years, the incidence of LDH has increased dramatically. There are many treatments for LDH, including conservative treatment (such as acupuncture and physiotherapy), minimally invasive interventional treatment (such as collagenase chemonucleolysis and radiofrequency ablation) and surgical treatment. The main purpose of this paper is to review the development process and application status of collagenase chemonucleolysis in the treatment of LDH at home and abroad and provide a reference for clinical treatment.
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Postoperative delirium is a common postoperative complication of neurocognitive dysfunction, especially in elderly surgical patients. Postoperative delirium not only damages patients' recovery but also increases social costs. ⋯ As traditional acupuncture therapy has been shown to be an effective treatment in many neurological disorders, and in recent years, it has begun to be clinically used as an intervention for postoperative delirium. Although most clinical and animal studies confirm that multiple types of acupuncture interventions can alleviate or prevent postoperative delirium by relieving acute postoperative pain, reducing the consumption of anesthetics and analgesics, attenuating neuroinflammation and neuronal lesions, while more evidence-based medical evidence and clinical validation are needed for these encouraging effects.
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Case Reports
Intranodal implantation of benign thyroid tissue as a late complication of ethanol ablation: A case report.
Ethanol ablation (EA) is recommended as the primary treatment for benign thyroid cysts and its use is increasing. Although complications, such as pain, hoarseness, and hematoma, have been reported after EA, implantation of benign thyroid tissue has not been previously reported. Here, we present a case of intranodal implantation of benign thyroid tissue as a late complication of EA. ⋯ Complicated EA may be associated with the dissemination of benign thyroid tissue into lymph nodes, with a confusing clinical presentation mimicking metastatic PTC. Radiologists and thyroid surgeons should consider the risk of intranodal implantation of benign thyroid tissue as a late complication of EA.