Pain physician
-
Vitamin D has a significant role to play in bone metabolism and neuromuscular function. Several researchers have indicated that Vitamin D deficiency may be possibly related to chronic musculoskeletal pain including chronic low back pain (CLBP). ⋯ CTRI/2014/03/004459.
-
Observational Study
Associations Between Cognitive Performance and Pain in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Comorbidity with Fibromyalgia Does Matter.
In addition to the frequently reported pain complaints, performance-based cognitive capabilities in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) with and without comorbid fibromyalgia (FM) are significantly worse than those of healthy controls. In various chronic pain populations, cognitive impairments are known to be related to pain severity. However, to the best of our knowledge, the association between cognitive performance and experimental pain measurements has never been examined in CFS patients. ⋯ The results underline disease heterogeneity in CFS by indicating that a measure of endogenous pain inhibition might be a significant predictor of cognitive functioning in CFS patients with FM, while self-reported pain appears more appropriate to predict cognitive functioning in CFS patients without FM.
-
Despite the various modalities available for treating headaches, typical therapy does not provide adequate pain relief for some patients. ⋯ PNS is an effective modality in the long-term management of intractable chronic headaches. Despite long histories of chronic headaches, the majority of patients had significant reductions in pain scores and the number of headache days per month. The outcomes were not dependent on the number of years the patients had suffered from headaches before PNS treatment.
-
The safety of neuraxial anesthetic techniques in the setting of oral and parenteral anticoagulation is an area of growing interest and clinical inquiry as the multitude of anticoagulant medications rapidly increases. Additionally, the indications for spinal cord stimulation therapy are evolving as both technique and technology in the field continue to advance. The estimated incidence of spinal hematoma following epidural injection has been estimated to be 1 in 150,000-200,000. ⋯ We would like to report a recent case for consideration in which a spinal cord stimulator trial was successful and led to permanent spinal cord stimulator implantation in a patient with diabetic peripheral neuropathy taking life-long aspirin and clopidogrel therapy secondary to extensive coronary and carotid atherosclerosis. The report serves as a novel case to encourage exploration into the topic of anticoagulation therapy with indwelling spinal cord stimulator leads. The case brings up a number of critical questions that cannot clearly be answered with the current literature and some interesting topics for discussion including the need for acute systemic anticoagulation in the future for vascular interventions and risk stratification for those patients selected for spinal cord stimulation.
-
Case Reports
Treatment of Abdominal Segmental Hernia, Constipation, and Pain Following Herpes Zoster with Paravertebral Block.
Herpes zoster (HZ) most commonly occurs in elderly patients and involves sensory neurons resulting in pain and sensory changes. Clinically significant motor deficits and visceral neuropathies are thought to be relatively rare. A 72-year-old man presented with abdominal segmental hernia, constipation, and pain following HZ in the left T9-10 dermatome. ⋯ One day after the procedure, the abdominal pain disappeared. In addition, 5 days after the intervention, the abdominal protrusion and constipation were resolved. He currently remains symptom free at a 6 month follow-up.