Pain physician
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Case Reports
SynchroMed II intrathecal pump memory errors due to repeated magnetic resonance imaging.
Cancer patients with severe refractory pain are often managed with implantable drug delivery systems (IDDS). The only drugs with US Food and Drug Administration approval for intrathecal use are morphine, ziconotide, and baclofen. Other drugs used and mixed include, hydromorphone, bupivacaine, sufentanil, and fentanyl. ⋯ The second time, 29 months later, the patient was admitted to the hospital to manage withdrawal symptoms and the pump had to be exchanged with a new device. Post-MRI pump interrogation should be performed on all patients with IDDS to ensure proper functioning of the pump. Special attention should be paid to patients receiving baclofen, as acute withdrawal can be very serious, even deadly.
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To accurately assess the effect of any therapy for treating discogenic low back pain, the natural history of such pain should be known beforehand. However, until now, no pathological characteristic could be used to predict the disease course of low back pain. ⋯ The present study indicated that the natural history of discogenic low back pain was chronic but persistent, and that the pain and disability in most patients did not improve over time.
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Epidural steroid injections (ESI) are therapeutically useful for the treatment of herniated intervertebral discs and spinal stenosis. However, there is a lack of evidence-based data about the safety of steroids. ⋯ HPA axis function was suppressed after ESI until Day 21 and returned to the normal range after 19.9 ± 6.8 days. Therefore, we suggest that the minimal interval between ESI treatments should be at least one month. In addition, we report that salivary cortisol measurements are very useful diagnostic predictors of HPA function.
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Reports from the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Institute of Medicine (IOM), the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), and the Office of Inspector General (OIG) continue to express significant concern with the overall fiscal sustainability of Medicare and the exponential increase in costs for chronic pain management. ⋯ Interventional techniques increased significantly in Medicare beneficiaries from 2000 to 2011. Overall, there was an increase of 177% in the utilization of IPM services per 100,000 Medicare beneficiaries, with an annual geometric average increase of 9.7%. The study also showed an exponential increase in facet joint interventions and sacroiliac joint blocks.