Articles: neuralgia.
-
Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2017
Review Meta AnalysisTopical capsaicin (high concentration) for chronic neuropathic pain in adults.
This review is an update of 'Topical capsaicin (high concentration) for chronic neuropathic pain in adults' last updated in Issue 2, 2013. Topical creams with capsaicin are used to treat peripheral neuropathic pain. Following application to the skin, capsaicin causes enhanced sensitivity, followed by a period with reduced sensitivity and, after repeated applications, persistent desensitisation. High-concentration (8%) capsaicin patches were developed to increase the amount of capsaicin delivered; rapid delivery was thought to improve tolerability because cutaneous nociceptors are 'defunctionalised' quickly. The single application avoids noncompliance. Only the 8% patch formulation of capsaicin is available, with a capsaicin concentration about 100 times greater than conventional creams. High-concentration topical capsaicin is given as a single patch application to the affected part. It must be applied under highly controlled conditions, often following local anaesthetic, due to the initial intense burning sensation it causes. The benefits are expected to last for about 12 weeks, when another application might be made. ⋯ High-concentration topical capsaicin used to treat postherpetic neuralgia, HIV-neuropathy, and painful diabetic neuropathy generated more participants with moderate or substantial levels of pain relief than control treatment using a much lower concentration of capsaicin. These results should be interpreted with caution as the quality of the evidence was moderate or very low. The additional proportion who benefited over control was not large, but for those who did obtain high levels of pain relief, there were usually additional improvements in sleep, fatigue, depression, and quality of life. High-concentration topical capsaicin is similar in its effects to other therapies for chronic pain.
-
Review Meta Analysis
Neuropathic pain prevalence following spinal cord injury: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Following spinal cord injury (SCI), chronic pain is a common secondary complication with neuropathic pain (NP) cited as one of the most distressing and debilitating conditions leading to poor quality of life, depression and sleep disturbances. Neuropathic pain presenting at or below the level of injury is largely refractory to current pharmacological and physical treatments. No consensus on the prevalence of NP post SCI currently exists, hence this systematic review was undertaken. ⋯ Future studies should include established definitions, classification systems and assessment tools for NP at defined time points post SCI to follow the trajectory of this problem across the lifespan and include indices of sleep, mood and interference to allow for appropriate, optimal and timely NP management for each patient. WHAT DOES THIS REVIEW ADD?: This is the first systematic review and meta-analysis to record pooled point prevalence of neuropathic pain post spinal cord injury at 53%. Additional pooled analysis shows that neuropathic pain is more common below the level of lesion, in patients with tetraplegia, older patients and at 1 year post injury.
-
Meta Analysis
Gabapentinoids for chronic low back pain: a protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.
Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a common condition and causes significant pain, distress and disability across the world. It is multifactorial in aetiology and is challenging to manage. Although the underlying mechanism of pain is predominantly non-specific, many argue that there is a substantial neuropathic pain element. Neuropathic pain is more severe, with significant disability. Gabapentinoids, including gabapentin and pregabalin, have proven efficacy in some neuropathic pain conditions. Despite no clear evidence, a substantial population of patients with CLBP are treated with gabapentinoids. ⋯ Being a systematic review, this study would not necessitate ethical review and approval. We plan to report and publish our study findings in a high impact medical journal, with online access.
-
Review Meta Analysis
EAN guidelines on central neurostimulation therapy in chronic pain conditions.
Our aim was to update previous European Federation of Neurological Societies guidelines on neurostimulation for neuropathic pain, expanding the search to new techniques and to chronic pain conditions other than neuropathic pain, and assessing the evidence with the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system. ⋯ Given the poor to moderate quality of evidence identified by this review, future large-scale multicentre studies of non-invasive and invasive neurostimulation are encouraged. The collection of higher quality evidence of the predictive factors for the efficacy of these techniques, such as the duration, quality and severity of pain, is also recommended.
-
Neuropathic pain (NP) is a major public health problem worldwide. Because of the unclear mechanism of NP, its treatment is one of the most difficult medical problems. As a targeted, noninvasive, safe therapy, pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) provides a new method for the treatment of NP; however, its effect on this treatment still lacks support from evidence-based medicine. ⋯ Neuropathic pain, pulsed radiofrequency, analgesia, meta-analysis.