Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
-
To provide an estimate of the effectiveness of basivertebral nerve (BVN) radiofrequency ablation (RFA) to treat vertebrogenic low back pain (LBP). ⋯ According to GRADE, there is moderate-quality evidence that BVN RFA effectively reduces pain and disability in most patients with vertebrogenic LBP. Further high-quality studies will likely improve our understanding of the effectiveness of this procedure.
-
To conduct a comprehensive search for evidence with regard to whether central sensitization after an injury can act as a persistent autonomous pain generator after the inducing injury has healed. ⋯ We found no evidence proving that central sensitization can persist as an autonomous pain generator after the initiating injury has healed. Our review has also shown that the evidential basis for the diagnosis of central sensitization in individual patients is seriously in question.
-
"Doctor shopping" typically refers to patients that seek controlled substance prescriptions from multiple providers with the presumed intent to obtain these medications for non-medical use and/or diversion. The purpose of this scoping review is to document and examine the criteria used to identify "doctor shopping" from dispensing data in the United States. ⋯ Relatively simple P x D criteria for identifying "doctor shopping" are still the dominant paradigm with the need for ongoing validation. The value of P x D criteria may change through time with more diverse methods applied to dispensing data emerging.
-
There have been some modest recent advancements in the research of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, yet the amount and quality of the work in this complicated multifactorial disease remains low (with some notable exceptions; e.g., the recent work on the dorsal root ganglion stimulation). The semi-systematic (though in some cases narrative) approach to review is necessary so that we might treat our patients while waiting for "better research." This semi-systematic review was conducted by experts in the field, (deliberately) some of whom are promising young researchers supplemented by the experience of "elder statesman" researchers, who all mention the system they have used to examine the literature. What we found is generally low- to medium-quality research with small numbers of subjects; however, there are some recent exceptions to this. ⋯ Responsive subsets can often be identified in these larger trials, but not sufficient to achieve statistically significant results in the general diagnostic grouping. This being the case the authors have necessarily included data from less compelling protocols, including trials such as case series and even in some instances case reports/empirical information. In the humanitarian spirit of treating our often desperate patients with this rare syndrome, without great evidence, we must take what data we can find (as in this work) and tailor a treatment regime for each patient.
-
The purpose of our study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled studies that, following third-molar extraction, utilized either a combination of acetaminophen (600 mg) with codeine (60 mg) or ibuprofen (400 mg) for pain management. ⋯ Our data indicate that single dose of ibuprofen (400 mg) is an effective pain reducer for post third molar extraction pain.