Der Schmerz
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Randomized Controlled Trial
[Electrical muscle stimulation in combination with heat for patients with chronic, nonspecific low back pain : A randomized, double-blind, stratified, placebo-controlled clinical trial].
Chronic non-specific low back pain (LBP) causes more disability than any other medical condition worldwide. Electrical muscle stimulation in combination with heat (EMS/H) for management of LBP has yet not been properly studied. Our hypothesis was that EMS/H provides better pain relief and improves subjective and objective data compared to standard treatment. ⋯ EMS/H is an effective and safe method for managing LBP. A clinically relevant and persisting pain reduction, a stable decrease in self-perceived disability, an improvement in both mood and affective characterization as well as sensory characterization of pain, muscle strength and endurance may have a significant impact on the management of LBP.
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Neuropathic pain consistently presents a significant therapeutic challenge. Topically applied analgesics have the advantage of showing low systemic side effects, but data on long-term effectiveness are lacking. Consequently, interviews were carried out with all patients being treated with topical analgesics in hospital. ⋯ Despite the long duration of the disease, the most used off-label topical drugs L and B demonstrated a high primary response rate (in contrast to C), with most benefiting from long-term treatment.
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This article describes the case of a female patient with symptoms of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) of the right wrist and forearm. Ergotherapy of the affected hand (unilateral desensitization) showed little success and became impossible with increasing environmental temperature due to excessive pain. A physiological feedback via simultaneous treatment of the unaffected healthy arm (bilateral treatment approach) ultimately led to a clear decline of all CRPS symptoms.