Revue médicale de Liège
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Revue médicale de Liège · Feb 2012
Review[Neurostimulation: which place in the treatment of refractory headaches?].
The management of refractory headaches (migraine or cluster headache) is often challenging in clinical practice. Most of the time, these patients are "desperate" and have already tried all existing medications. Many progresses have recently been made in the therapeutic approach of these diseases, especially with the advent of neurostimulation techniques. ⋯ The most effective and best studied methods are occipital nerve stimulation (ONS) and hypothalamic deep brain stimulation (DBS), the latter being however at higher surgical risk. Hence, there is a new hope for patients with refractory headaches. Various clinical trials are still underway.
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Revue médicale de Liège · Feb 2012
[Proven and expected benefits of intravenous lidocaine administered during the perioperative period].
Local anesthetics which inhibit sodium channels are used for neural blockade during infiltration and locoregional anesthesia. Furthermore lidocaine given intravenously acts on other cellular systems and produces multiple properties, some of which are beneficial during the perioperative period. ⋯ This article reviews clinically relevant properties of intravenous lidocaine. Its future perspectives for the prevention of chronicisation of postoperative pain, facilitation of postoperative fast track programs, and prevention of tumoral recurrence are also discussed.
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Revue médicale de Liège · Feb 2012
[Metastatic melanoma: some hope from ipilimumab and vemurafenib].
Treating a patient with cutaneous malignant melanoma relies on the recognition of a clever stratification of the distinct stages of the disease. The histoprognostic criteria were recently revisited. ⋯ Such therapeutic advance improves the median overall survival for a few months. Some combined treatments could possibly boost the beneficial effects.