Pain physician
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Percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of the trigeminal Gasserian ganglion via the foramen ovale is still one of the classic treatments for primary trigeminal neuralgia. However, the Gasserian ganglion is deep in the middle cranial fossa. Although it is a structure outside the brain tissue, the puncture needle must enter the encephalic to reach the Gasserian ganglion and so it is difficult to completely avoid the risk of intracranial hemorrhage and infection caused by puncture damage to intracranial blood vessels. It is not clear whether if it is possible for RFA at the extracranial non-gasserian-ganglion site via the exit of the cranial channel (foramen ovale) for patients with V3 trigeminal neuralgia (TN). ⋯ Extracranial non-Gasserian-ganglion RF can achieve satisfactory results and improve the safety of radiofrequency treatment for trigeminal neuralgia.
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Complex regional pain syndrome is a rare, neuropathic disorder that affects fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States annually. Current treatments often focus on pain management and fall short of relieving symptoms of pain and dystonia in patients. ⋯ There is a need for additional prospective and interventional studies addressing the use of low-dose naltrexone in the treatment of complex regional pain syndrome symptoms.
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Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is an extremely prevalent disease, whose etiology is often multifactorial. Facet joint arthropathy is one of the most common causes of CLBP. Facet joints are innervated by the medial branches of the primary and adjacent level dorsal rami and are, therefore, key potential targets for the symptomatic management of CLBP. A lumbar medial branch nerve block (MBB) procedure is often used to assist in the diagnosis of facet mediated CLBP. For unclear reasons, some patients experience protracted relief of CLBP after diagnostic MBBs alone. ⋯ In select patients, MBB may produce protracted relief of CLBP symptoms. The authors present distinct hypotheses which may help explain the therapeutic effects of diagnostic MBB procedures.
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Reported data indicate that the curative effect of percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) on the patients with intravertebral vacuum cleft (IVC) is worse than on those without IVC. ⋯ RC-PVP, with the destruction of IVC, may lead to better clinical outcomes with fewer complications.
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Amitriptyline, duloxetine, and pregabalin are among the most pharmacotherapeutic, effective treatments for neuropathic pain control. However, the evaluation of synergism by combining these treatments is still poorly investigated. ⋯ The data demonstrated that combined therapy of pregabalin plus amitriptyline improved the bioavailability of pregabalin and potentiated the efficacy of the antiallodynic effect of pregabalin alone, proving to be advantageous for the treatment of sciatic neuropathic pain.