Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Aug 2024
Peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) of the phrenic nerve for intractable hiccups: a novel use case report.
Intractable hiccups, defined as those persisting for over 1 month, represent a rare but significant clinical challenge often associated with substantial morbidity and refractory to standard treatments. ⋯ This novel application of phrenic nerve PNS highlights its potential as a therapeutic strategy for intractable hiccups, underscoring their pathophysiologic involvement of the diaphragm and respiratory muscles. The findings suggest that phrenic nerve PNS could offer a viable treatment option for patients unresponsive to conventional therapies, warranting further research to establish its long-term efficacy and safety.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Aug 2024
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyComparison between low-volume local anesthetic with intravenous dexamethasone and conventional volume without dexamethasone for superior trunk block after arthroscopic shoulder surgery: a randomized controlled non-inferiority trial.
This study aimed to investigate whether low-volume local anesthetic with intravenous dexamethasone can reduce the incidence of diaphragmatic paresis while maintaining the analgesic duration compared with conventional volume of local anesthetic without intravenous dexamethasone when performing ultrasound-guided superior trunk block in patients undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery. ⋯ Superior trunk block using low-volume local anesthetic with intravenous dexamethasone can reduce the incidence of diaphragmatic paresis while providing non-inferior analgesic duration compared with the conventional volume of local anesthetic in patients undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Aug 2024
Randomized Controlled TrialNitrous oxide for the treatment of complex regional pain syndrome: a randomized blinded trial.
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is a debilitating neuropathic condition often refractory to conventional treatments. N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists have a well-established role in the development and modulation of chronic neuropathic pain. Nitrous oxide is widely used and generally safe anesthetic gas with NMDA receptor antagonist activity. We therefore tested the hypothesis that brief periods of nitrous oxide exposure reduce pain in patients with CRPS. ⋯ Compared with air/oxygen, 2 hours of nitrous oxide/oxygen exposure for three sessions did not provide meaningful therapeutic potential for patients with chronic CRPS. Our results do not support using nitrous oxide for the treatment of CRPS.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Aug 2024
Review Case ReportsDelayed development of spinal stenosis at the spinal cord stimulator percutaneous lead entry point: case report and literature review.
Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is an efficacious treatment for various refractory chronic pain syndromes. Serious complications including spinal cord compression (SCC) are rare with 19 previous reports which are mainly attributed to fibrotic scar tissue formation at the distal end of the leads at the location of the contacts. We report a case of SCC following SCS implantation at the lead entry location secondary to a delayed progression of spinal canal stenosis. ⋯ Our case report urges physicians of SCS patients, noting a loss of therapeutic benefit with their device, to investigate new pathologies including SCC. Furthermore, our case highlights clinical symptoms and surgical treatments of SCC. Paddle leads are more commonly implicated in published cases of SCC than percutaneous leads. Lastly, MRI conditionality is critical to identifying cases of SCC.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Aug 2024
Randomized Controlled TrialAnterior quadratus lumborum block for analgesia after living-donor renal transplantation: a double-blinded randomized controlled trial.
Limited non-opioid analgesic options are available for managing postoperative pain after renal transplantation. We aimed to investigate whether the unilateral anterior quadratus lumborum (QL) block would reduce postoperative opioid consumption after living-donor renal transplantation in the context of multimodal analgesia. ⋯ The anterior QL block did not reduce opioid consumption in patients receiving multimodal analgesia after living-donor renal transplantation. Our findings do not support the routine administration of the anterior QL block in this surgical population.