Pain physician
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Low back pain is a highly prevalent condition with substantial costs. Superior cluneal neuralgia is present in up to 14% of low back pain cases. This etiology of back pain is often overlooked because the symptoms of superior cluneal neuralgia manifest similarly to those of other conditions, such as radiculopathy and sacroiliac joint pain. Peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) is an emerging pain management modality used to treat various chronic pain conditions. This retrospective study will examine the outcomes of patients who have back pain caused by neuralgia and are treated with the permanent Freedom® PNS System (Curonix LLC) at the superior cluneal nerve. ⋯ When used to target the superior cluneal nerve, the Curonix Freedom® PNS System is an effective and safe treatment for neuralgia-caused chronic lower back pain resistant to conservative therapy.
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Meta Analysis
Regional Analgesia Techniques Following Thoracic Surgery: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis.
Regional analgesia techniques have become the basis of multimodal analgesia for acute and chronic pain. They are widely used in thoracic surgery, but the best treatment is still uncertain. ⋯ The cTEA and cSAPB techniques are more likely to reduce the cumulative opioid consumption within 24 hours. The cTEA, cSAPB, ESPB techniques were more likely to improve pain at postoperative 6, 12, and 24 hours. Therefore, cTEA, cSAPB, and ESPB are the first choices for pain relief post thoracic surgery, whereas wound infiltration, intercostal block, continuous wound infiltration, and continuous intercostal block were less likely to be effective. We need more high-quality randomized controlled trials with larger sample sizes to validate our results and to determine the ideal regional analgesia technique and the optimal drug formula.
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Observational Study
Predicting Responses to Interventional Pain Management Techniques for Chronic Low Back Pain: A Single-Center Observational Study (PReTi-Back Study).
Exploring factors linked to the outcomes of certain interventional pain management techniques may optimize the selection of candidates for those procedures. Our hypothesis is that factors that influence responses to interventional therapies for chronic low back pain (CLBP) can be identified by analyzing a prospective cohort. ⋯ Patients satisfied with previously performed interventional therapies or who exhibit findings of radicular compression or listhesis on imaging show approximately twice the likelihood of experiencing a positive response to short-term IMPT than do patients without those characteristics. Patients who are obese or have PSPS-2 exhibit approximately a 50% lower likelihood of short-term response than do patients without these conditions.
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Numerous studies have highlighted the escalating costs associated with managing low back and neck pain, as well as other musculoskeletal disorders. In the past, there was a notable increase in the use of interventional techniques to address these disorders. However, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted various chronic pain treatment approaches, including interventional procedures and opioid use, following a broader trend of reduced healthcare services. Consequently, there was an 18.7% decline in the use of interventional techniques per 100,000 Medicare beneficiaries between 2019 and 2020, a stark contrast to the previous growth patterns, despite some initial declines observed starting in 2017. ⋯ This retrospective analysis demonstrates a significant reduction in the use of interventional pain management techniques from 2019 to 2022. Contributing factors to this decline likely include the lasting effects of COVID-19, economic challenges, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and evolving local coverage determination policies.
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Peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) has been used for over 50 years to treat chronic pain by delivering electrical pulses through small electrodes placed near targeted peripheral nerves those outside the brain and spinal cord. Early PNS systems often required invasive neurosurgical procedures. However, since 2015, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved percutaneously implanted PNS leads and neurostimulators offering a much less invasive, non-opioid option for managing recalcitrant chronic pain. The following FDA-cleared PNS systems are commercially available in the United States for the management of chronic, intractable pain:• Freedom® Peripheral Nerve Stimulator (PNS) System (Curonix LLC, 2017) • StimRouter® Neuromodulation System (Bioness, now Bioventus, 2015)• SPRINT® PNS System (SPR® Therapeutics, Inc., 2016) • Nalu™ Neurostimulation System (Nalu Medical Inc., 2019)• ReActiv8® Implantable Neurostimulation System (Mainstay Medical Limited, 2020) The American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP) has published evidence-based consensus guidelines for the application of PNS systems in managing chronic pain. ⋯ These evidence-based guidelines support the use of implantable peripheral nerve stimulation leads and neurostimulators in patients with moderate to severe chronic pain refractory to two or more conservative treatments. These guidelines aim to optimize patient outcomes and promote health equity through the integration of PNS technology in clinical practice.