Current pain and headache reports
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Curr Pain Headache Rep · Jan 2014
ReviewTrigeminal autonomic cephalalgias: beyond the conventional treatments.
The trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias include cluster headache, paroxysmal hemicrania, short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache attacks, and hemicrania continua. While the majority responds to conventional pharmacological treatments, a small but significant proportion of patients are intractable to these treatments. ⋯ The evidence base for conventional treatments is limited, and the evidence for those used beyond convention is more so. At present, the most evidence exists for nerve blocks, deep brain stimulation, occipital nerve stimulation, sphenopalatine ganglion stimulation in chronic cluster headache, and microvascular decompression of the trigeminal nerve in short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache attacks.
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Chronic migraine (CM) is a subtype of migraine broadly defined by the presence of headache at least 15 days per month. Emerging evidence suggests that CM and episodic migraine (EM) differ not only in headache frequency, but that they are distinct clinical entities. Because individuals with CM are more disabled, they demonstrate higher societal burden than those with EM. ⋯ The second, the International Burden Migraine Study (IBMS), is a Web-based survey conducted in North America, Western Europe, Asia/Pacific, and Brazil. The third is a clinic-based survey performed in Taiwan. This review discusses results of these studies with regard to healthcare resource use (and related direct costs) and loss of productivity (and related indirect costs) from the perspective of cost-effectiveness of new therapeutic approaches to CM.
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Curr Pain Headache Rep · Jan 2014
ReviewFibromyalgia and sleep in animal models: a current overview and future directions.
Sleep disorders are highly prevalent in patients with fibromyalgia (FM). Many of the daytime symptoms, such as chronic pain and fatigue, may be related to the non-restorative sleep patterns associated with the disease. ⋯ Therefore, in the current review we connect these topics and provide some insights into the cyclic relationship between sleep and pain, which has been addressed mainly in animal models. Additionally, we highlight the urgent need for sleep studies in FM animal models, which might improve the knowledge base and accelerate advances in this field.