Articles: neuropathic-pain.
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Case Reports
Effect of Bilateral Anterior Cingulotomy on Chronic Neuropathic Pain with Severe Depression.
The presence of neuropathic pain can severely impinge on emotional regulation and activities of daily living including social activities, resulting in diminished life satisfaction. Unfortunately, the majority of patients with neuropathic pain do not experience an amelioration of symptoms from conventional therapies, even when multimodal therapies are used. Chronic refractory neuropathic pain is usually accompanied by severe depression that is prone to incur suicidal events; thus clinical management of chronic neuropathic pain and depression presents a serious challenge for clinicians and patients. ⋯ Bilateral anterior cingulotomy may serve as an alternative treatment for medically refractory neuropathic pain, especially for patients who also experience depression.
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Practice Guideline
Management of pain in individuals with spinal cord injury: Guideline of the German-Speaking Medical Society for Spinal Cord Injury.
Introduction: Pain is a prominent complication in spinal cord injury (SCI). It can either occur as a direct or as an indirect consequence of SCI and it often heavily influences the quality of life of affected individuals. In SCI, nociceptive and neuropathic pain can equally emerge at the same time above or below the level of injury. ⋯ Recommended therapeutic approaches comprise pharmacological (e.g. nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or anticonvulsants) and non-pharmacological (e.g. physical activity or psychotherapeutic techniques) strategies for both nociceptive and neuropathic pain. Discussion: Assessment of SCI-related pain is standardized and respective methods in terms of examination, classification and grading of pain are already in use and validated in German language. In contrast, valid, evidence-based and efficient therapeutic options are limited and ask for further clinical studies, ideally randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses.
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Journal of pain research · Jan 2019
Cervical plexus as anatomical target for the treatment of postoperative cervical neuropathic pain.
Objective: The incidence of chronic neuropathic pain following neck dissections is approximately 40%. Standard drug therapy in these patients include pharmacologic treatments due to the neuropathic pain (gabapentinoids, tricyclic antidepressants…). In this case, standard options were limited. ⋯ Due to its location, superficial cervical plexus is an anatomical site with the potential risk of undergoing structural alterations (fibrosis, radiotherapy-associated retraction phenomena or neuroma formation). Interventional treatments performed under ultrasound guidance allow the dynamic application of therapies such as radiofrequency ablation. PRF could potentially cause an additive effect between neuromodulation and the hydrodissection caused by the infiltration of substances within a fibrotic area.
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Stereotact Funct Neurosurg · Jan 2019
Case ReportsGamma Knife Radiosurgery for Trigeminal Neuralgia Reduces Neurovascular Compression: A Case Report after 11 Years.
Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a rare and debilitating craniofacial pain syndrome often caused by vascular compression of the trigeminal nerve. Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) has been shown to offer a less invasive yet effective treatment method for pain reduction in TN. In this case report, we observed radiological evidence of resolved neurovascular compression after 11 years for a patient with recur-rent TN and prior GKRS. ⋯ In this case, we demonstrate that vessel-nerve relationships may change over time in TN patients treated with GKRS, which raises the possibility that GKRS could ease a neurovascular compression.