Articles: neuralgia.
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Neurorehabil Neural Repair · Oct 2019
ReviewNeuropathic Pain in Taxane-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy: Evidence for Exercise in Treatment.
One in 2 Canadians is expected to acquire cancer in their lifetime. Many cancers, including breast, ovarian, and lung cancer, are treated using taxane chemotherapy with curative intent. ⋯ The pathophysiology of TIPN is still unknown but likely involves multiple mechanisms, including microtubule impairment, neuroimmune and inflammatory changes, ion channel remodeling, impaired mitochondrial function, and genetic predisposition. This review highlights current theories on the pathophysiology for TIPN, the cellular responses thought to maintain neuropathic pain, and the growing support for exercise in the treatment and prevention of peripheral neuropathy and neuropathic pain in both animal and human models.
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Wide dynamic range (WDR) neurons of the spinal dorsal horn respond to a wide range of innocuous and noxious mechanical stimulation and encode the intensity of mechanical stimuli as changes in firing rate. However, there are inconsistent findings regarding whether WDR neuron stimulus encoding activity is altered in pathological pain states. This inconsistency may arise from differences in the pain models used or in the experimental conditions themselves. ⋯ The pressure-evoked firing rate of WDR neurons was not altered by any experimental pain model except for arthritis and inflammation models, where mechanical stimuli evoked a higher firing rate than controls. Conversely, there was a consistent increase in the spontaneous firing rate of WDR neurons in neuropathic pain, arthritis and inflammation, and chemoneuropathy pain models. Overall, these data indicate that changes in WDR encoding of applied pressure are unlikely to significantly contribute to pathological sensory processing but suggest a possible role for these neurons in spontaneous pain.
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Little is published on the prognosis of small fiber neuropathy (SFN). ⋯ Small fiber neuropathy tends to be stable and rarely affects ambulation and employment status. Effective pain control remains a challenge.
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Objectives: Subcutaneous injection of botulinum toxin-A (sBONT-A) is a novel treatment for peripheral neuropathic pain. While its analgesic effects are well documented, this treatment is often not comfortable and fails in patients who show signs of sensory loss but rarely allodynia. There are some case reports about perineural BONT-A injection (pBONT-A) which could be an alternative approach. ⋯ Based on these results, we suggest that future parallel design trials on pBONT-A need to include at least 84 patients. Discussion: Ultrasound-guided pBONT-A injection seems to be a safe treatment leading to a sufficient pain relief for some months without sensory changes. Surprisingly, pBONT-A showed a pronounced analgesic effect also in patients without signs of hyperalgesia.
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Background: A reality of the current political and legal environment is that while marijuana and cannabis-based products remain not approved for human consumption at the federal level in the United States, several states have authorized use for constituents. While state lines represent meaningful cultural and geographical identity markers, the reality is that patients and families readily cross state lines to access medical interventions and care. Methods: We present the case of a six-year-old child with intractable seizures and severe neuropathic pain managed on medical marijuana (MM) in her home state of Colorado; where medicinal use of marijuana is authorized at the state level; traveling across state lines to access surgical care in Nebraska where MM is prohibited. Conclusion: The case report shares the communication and creativity invested in adequate symptom management for this child weaned off of MM perioperatively. The case recognizes the unique complexities of shared symptom management goals within state-specific care models.