Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain
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There is no consensus on which "strong" (or step 3 WHO analgesic ladder) opioid to prescribe to a particular patient with cancer-related pain. A better understanding of opioid and patient characteristics on treatment response will contribute to a more personalized opioid treatment. ⋯ Fentanyl and methadone, and mixed pain were found to be statistically significant predictors of treatment success in patients with cancer-related pain. With the predictors currently assessed our data did not allow for the creation of a clinical prediction model with good discriminative power. Additional - unrevealed - predictors are necessary to develop a future prediction model.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
The MOTION study: Two-year results of a real-world randomized controlled trial of the mild® procedure for treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis.
The MOTION study is designed to measure the impact of percutaneous image-guided lumbar decompression as a first-line therapy on patients otherwise receiving real-world conventional medical management for lumbar spinal stenosis with neurogenic claudication secondary to hypertrophic ligamentum flavum. This prospective, multicenter randomized controlled trial uses objective and patient-reported outcome measures to compare the combination of the mild® percutaneous treatment and nonsurgical conventional medical management (CMM) to CMM-Alone. ⋯ The durability of mild + CMM for this patient population was demonstrated for all efficacy outcomes through 2 years. Improvements in walking time from baseline to 2 years for patients treated with mild + CMM were significant and substantial. The lack of reported device or procedure-related adverse events reinforces the strong safety profile of the mild procedure. These results provide support for early interventional treatment of symptomatic LSS with the mild procedure.
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Review Case Reports
Stellate ganglion block to mitigate thalamic pain syndrome of an oncological origin.
Thalamic pain syndrome (TPS) is an enigmatic and rare condition. Thalamic pain syndrome is under the umbrella of central pain syndrome, which is classically associated with multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, postamputation, epilepsy, stroke, tumor, and Parkinson's disease. The mainstay treatment of TPS is polypharmacy. There is uncertainty about the intermediate options to manage medication-resistant TPS before resorting to invasive, and often expensive, intracranial therapies. Stellate ganglion block (SGB) has shown promise in reducing TPS symptoms of the upper extremity and face following a thalamic ischemic event. ⋯ In summary, ultrasound-guided SGB may be considered in patients with TPS due to thalamic cancer, before pursuing more invasive intracranial surgeries to treat pain.
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Neurologic deficit is known as a rare complication of thoracic spinal cord stimulator (SCS) paddle lead implantation, but many believe its incidence after SCS paddle lead placement is under-reported. It is possible that imaging characteristics may be used to help predict safe paddle lead placement. ⋯ Postoperative neurologic deficit is an uncommon complication after thoracic laminotomy for SCS paddle lead placement. The authors recommend ensuring a starting thoracic canal diameter of at least 12 mm to accommodate a SCS paddle lead measuring 2 mm thick to ensure a final diameter of >10 mm. If canal diameter is <12 mm, aggressive undercutting of the lamina, a second laminotomy, or placement of smaller SCS wire leads should be considered.
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Chronic pain is known to be correlated with disability. We aimed to determine the overlap between a general self-reported measure of disability and a measure of disability due to pain problems among adults with chronic pain. ⋯ Among people with chronic pain, most people with disability are experiencing limitations related to pain problems. Assessment of disability without addressing pain interference has likely underestimated the disability burden in this population.