Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain
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Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a common cause of chronic pain in the elderly. Antidepressants, anticonvulsants, and opioids may reduce discomfort in many patients, while others have pain intractable to all forms of therapy. ⋯ Two cases are described in which an 80-year-old man and a 67-year-old woman with intractable PHN, lasting 2 and 10 years, respectively, were effectively treated with implantation of two octapolar leads in the lateral thoracic region. These cases suggest that peripheral nerve stimulation may offer an alternative treatment option for intractable pain associated with PHN especially in the elderly where treatment options are limited because of existing comorbidities.
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We investigated if correlations exist between medical history, tissue abnormalities, and cell types retrieved from the epidural space of patients with chronic low back pain (LBP) and chronic radicular pain (RP). ⋯ The findings provide a foundation for future studies of cells obtained from similar patients with the goal of furthering the understanding of the pathogenesis of LBP/RP.