Der Schmerz
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Interoceptive visceral pain is perceived as more fear-inducing and unpleasant compared to cutaneous heat pain in healthy women even when stimuli are matched for perceived pain intensity. On a neural level, both pain stimuli induce comparable neural activation in areas related to processing of sensory-discriminative pain aspects. However, enhanced neural responses are observed in areas associated with salience processing and descending pain inhibition for the visceral pain modality, even when results are controlled for intra-individual differences in perceived pain intensity. Moreover, immanent fear of pain is suggested to play a distinctive role in perception of visceral pain.
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We report on an endoscopic triple neurectomy in a female patient with vulvar carcinoma metastasized to the left groin with refractory neuropathic inguinodynia. Using a retroperitoneoscopic approach we resected the ilioinguinal, iliohypogastric, and genitofemoral nerves. The inguinodynia improved significantly; especially the reduced ability to walk was enhanced considerably. Endoscopic triple neurectomy could be a useful therapeutic option in refractory inguinal pain caused by local tumor manifestation.
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The success of radiofrequency ablation (RF) of the medial branch of the dorsal ramus in patients with facet joint pain depends on the effective coagulation distance. To date, computed tomography(CT)-guided techniques do not reach the nerve in parallel but rather than punctually. We report a new CT-guided technique to enhance parallelism and proximity of the RF needle to the nerve. ⋯ We could demonstrate that the principle of parallelism and proximity of the needle to the nerve could be fulfilled with this new technique; however, needle positioning requires practice due to the oblique puncture direction.
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Owing to a rise of psychosomatic comorbidities, the treatment of psychological disorders, which may negatively impact prognosis and therapy, is increasingly becoming a focus of attention for pain outpatient clinics. ⋯ The constant presence of a liaison psychiatrist allows for timely, specialised care of pain patients in terms of a multimodal therapeutic approach.