Articles: pain-management.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · May 2024
ReviewEvaluating the balance of benefits and harms in chronic pain clinical trials: prioritizing individual participants over individual outcomes.
Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) generally assess efficacy and safety separately, with the conclusion of whether a treatment is beneficial based solely on the efficacy endpoint. However, assessing and combining efficacy and safety domains, using a single composite outcome measure, can provide a more comprehensive assessment of the overall effect of a treatment. Furthermore, composite outcomes can incorporate information regarding the relationship between the individual outcomes. In fact, such outcomes have been suggested in the clinical trials literature for at least 15 years. ⋯ Composite outcomes of benefits and harms are underutilized in chronic pain RCTs. The advantages and challenges of using such outcomes are discussed.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · May 2024
Prevalence of and factors associated with stenotic thoracic ligamentum flavum hypertrophy.
Stenotic thoracic ligamentum flavum hypertrophy can cause leg and/or low back pain similar to that caused by lumbar spinal stenosis. However, the thoracic spine may occasionally be overlooked in patients with leg and/or low back pain. An accurate understanding of the prevalence of stenotic thoracic ligamentum flavum hypertrophy and its associated factors is necessary. ⋯ Given the possibility for missed stenotic thoracic ligamentum flavum hypertrophy to potentially result in neurological complications, extending lumbar spine MRI covering the lower thoracic region may be considered for patients over 50 years of age with suspected severe lumbar disc degeneration.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · May 2024
Randomized Controlled TrialSingle-bolus injection of local anesthetic, with or without continuous infusion, for interscalene brachial plexus block in the setting of multimodal analgesia: a randomized controlled unblinded trial.
Previous trials favored a continuous interscalene brachial plexus block over a single injection for major shoulder surgery. However, these trials did not administer a multimodal analgesic regimen. This randomized, controlled unblinded trial tested the hypothesis that a continuous infusion of local anesthetic for an interscalene brachial plexus block still provides superior analgesia after major shoulder surgery when compared with a single injection in the setting of multimodal analgesia, inclusive of intravenous dexamethasone, magnesium, acetaminophen and ketorolac. ⋯ A continuous infusion of local anesthetic for an interscalene brachial plexus block does not provide superior analgesia after major shoulder surgery when compared with a single injection in the setting of multimodal analgesia, inclusive of intravenous dexamethasone, magnesium, acetaminophen and ketorolac. The findings of this study are limited by performance and detection biases.