Articles: pain-clinics.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Pragmatic Clinical Trial
CT or Invasive Coronary Angiography in Stable Chest Pain.
In the diagnosis of obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD), computed tomography (CT) is an accurate, noninvasive alternative to invasive coronary angiography (ICA). However, the comparative effectiveness of CT and ICA in the management of CAD to reduce the frequency of major adverse cardiovascular events is uncertain. ⋯ Among patients referred for ICA because of stable chest pain and intermediate pretest probability of CAD, the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events was similar in the CT group and the ICA group. The frequency of major procedure-related complications was lower with an initial CT strategy. (Funded by the European Union Seventh Framework Program and others; DISCHARGE ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02400229.).
-
Initial clinical studies have shown that the stimulation of the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) can significantly reduce chronic intractable pain. However, clinical data on long-term results and complications of these systems are limited. The aim of this prospective study is to report on a single center long-term follow-up of DRG stimulation for intractable chronic pain. ⋯ The findings were generally robust to imputation methods of missing data. Implantable pulse generators of 8 patients were explanted because of dissatisfaction with pain relief. In conclusion, DRG stimulation can provide effective pain relief and improved quality of life in patients suffering with neuropathic pain, although this study had a revision rate of 42% within the first 24 months, and 56% of IPGs that were replaced because of battery depletion had a shorter than expected battery life.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
Brain-based measures of nociception during general anesthesia with remifentanil: A randomized controlled trial.
Catheter radiofrequency (RF) ablation for cardiac arrhythmias is a painful procedure. Prior work using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in patients under general anesthesia has indicated that ablation results in activity in pain-related cortical regions, presumably due to inadequate blockade of afferent nociceptors originating within the cardiac system. Having an objective brain-based measure for nociception and analgesia may in the future allow for enhanced analgesic control during surgical procedures. Hence, the primary aim of this study is to demonstrate that the administration of remifentanil, an opioid widely used during surgery, can attenuate the fNIRS cortical responses to cardiac ablation. ⋯ We observed cortical activity related to nociception during cardiac ablation under general anesthesia with remifentanil. It highlights the potential of fNIRS to provide an objective pain measure in unconscious patients, where cortical-based measures may be more accurate than current evaluation methods. Future research may expand on this application to produce a real-time indication of pain that will aid clinicians in providing immediate and adequate pain treatment.