Pain physician
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The use of epidural steroid injections as a treatment for patients with degenerative lumbar scoliotic spinal stenosis and radiculopathy has received sparse attention in the literature. Even though it has been reported that patients with scoliosis may respond differently than other patient groups to conservative therapeutic interventions for low back pain and radiculopathy, patients with scoliosis have rarely, if ever, been excluded from clinical studies of epidural steroid injections. To date, there are no studies investigating the efficacy of fluoroscopic transforaminal epidural steroid injections as a treatment for patients with radiculopathy and radiographic evidence of degenerative lumbar scoliotic stenosis. ⋯ Fluoroscopic transforaminal epidural steroid injections appear to be an effective nonsurgical treatment option for patients with degenerative lumbar scoliotic stenosis and radiculopathy and should be considered before surgical intervention.
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Spinal endoscopy is a useful tool for the management of intractable low back or radicular pain originating from post lumbar laminectomy syndrome, epidural scarring, or disc protrusions, and non-responsive to conservative modalities and other interventional techniques including fluoroscopically directed epidural steroid injections and percutaneous adhesiolysis. Spinal endoscopy requires that the caudal canal be entered via the sacral hiatus. ⋯ In such cases, the procedure is stopped because of the absence of an alternative approach to enter the epidural space with the spinal endoscope, resulting in non-availability of this treatment. This report describes a novel method of dealing with the problem of cartilaginous obstruction of the sacral hiatus, using a mini-surgical approach to decompress the hiatus, allowing access into the caudal canal.
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Pudendal nerve block is performed to confirm the diagnosis of pudendal neuralgia. Many physicians and patients are hesitant to pursue diagnostic nerve blocks to confirm the diagnosis of pudendal neuralgia secondary to significant patient discomfort, the need for special equipment, and the risk in the traditionally described approach.
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Since the first medical description of post-amputation phenomena reported by Ambrose Paré, persistent phantom pain syndromes have been well recognized. However, they continue to be difficult to manage. The three most commonly utilized terms include phantom sensation, phantom pain, and stump pain. ⋯ While numerous treatments have been described, there is little clinical evidence supporting drug therapy, psychological therapy, interventional techniques or surgery. This review will describe epidemiology, etiology and pathophysiological mechanisms, risk factors, and treatment modalities. The review also examines the effectiveness of various described modalities for prevention, as well as management of established phantom pain syndromes.
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The high prevalence of persistent neck pain due to involvement of cervical facet joints has been described in controlled studies. Therapeutic interventions utilized in managing chronic neck pain of facet joint origin include intraarticular injections, medial branch nerve blocks, and neurolysis of medial branch nerves by means of radiofrequency. ⋯ Cervical medial branch blocks were an effective modality of treatment in managing chronic neck pain secondary to facet joint involvement confirmed by controlled, comparative local anesthetic blocks.