Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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Multicenter Study
Radiofrequency intradiscal biacuplasty for treatment of discogenic lower back pain: a 12-month follow-up.
Discogenic low back pain (LBP) affects a considerable number of patients suffering from chronic LBP. Recently, a growing interest has emerged in minimally invasive treatment options for discogenic LBP. Intradiscal biacuplasty (IDB), which uses cooled radiofrequency technology to ablate nociceptors in the posterior aspect of the intervertebral disc, is one such option. We previously presented 6-month results of a randomized, double-blinded, sham-controlled study. Now, we present the unblinded, 12-month follow-up data for treatment patients and 6-month data for cross-over subjects from the original sham group. ⋯ Clinically significant improvements after IDB initially reported at 6 months were maintained at 9 and 12 months. The cross-over subjects had similar improvement in all outcome measures at all observed time points.
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Muscle hyperalgesia is typically evaluated by pressure algometry applying linear stimulation. Combining linear pressure stimulation with additional minor variations of the pressure in different directions may optimize the detection of pain sensitivity in hyperalgesic muscle. ⋯ Rotational stimulation together with pressure stimulation was more efficient than classical pressure algometry in detecting muscle hyperalgesia.
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Clinicians and educators rely on the published medical information. They trust that original research and narrative or systematic reviews are reliable and the authorship is transparent, but this is not always the case. Disclosure of conflicts of interest by authors is required by most journals, disclosure will not detect ghost or guest authorship. ⋯ Industry, universities, research centers, and professional medical associations should be clear and unequivocal in condeming these practices. Processes need to be in place to investigate and, if need be, deal with violations. Clearly, we must all participate in this endeavor for professional, ethical, and most importantly, best patient care reasons.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Evaluation of the treatment modalities for neurosensory disturbances of the inferior alveolar nerve following retromolar bone harvesting for bone augmentation.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the treatment modalities for neurosensory disturbances (NSDs) of the inferior alveolar nerve occurring after retromolar bone harvesting for bone augmentation procedures before implant placement. ⋯ Our results justify SGB as a reasonable treatment modality for NSDs occurring after the harvesting of retromolar bone grafts.