Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Jul 2018
Meta AnalysisThe Impact of Spinal Needle Selection on Postdural Puncture Headache: A Meta-Analysis and Metaregression of Randomized Studies.
Potentially broadened indications for spinal anesthesia require increased understanding of the risk factors and prevention measures associated with postdural puncture headache (PDPH). This review is designed to examine the association between spinal needle characteristics and incidence of PDPH. ⋯ Pencil-point needles are associated with significantly lower incidence of PDPH compared with the cutting-needle design. Whereas a significant relationship was noted between needle gauge and PDPH for cutting-needle design, a similar association was not shown for pencil-point needles. Providers may consider selection of larger-caliber pencil-point needle to maximize technical proficiency without expensing increased rates of PDPH.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · May 2018
Meta AnalysisLiterature Review and Meta-Analysis of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation in Treating Chronic Back Pain.
This study is a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials comparing the efficacy of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) to a control and to other nerve stimulation therapies (NSTs) for the treatment of chronic back pain. ⋯ These results suggest that TENS does not improve symptoms of lower back pain, but may offer short-term improvement of functional disability.