Articles: neuralgia.
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Support Care Cancer · Sep 2015
Cancer treatment-related neuropathic pain: proof of concept study with menthol--a TRPM8 agonist.
Effective treatment of neuropathic pain without unacceptable side effects is challenging. Cancer sufferers increasingly live with long-term treatment-related neuropathic pain, resulting from chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) or surgical scars. This proof-of-concept study aimed to determine whether preclinical evidence for TRPM8 ion channels in sensory neurons as a novel analgesic target could be translated to clinical benefit in patients with neuropathic pain, using the TRPM8 activator menthol. ⋯ This proof-of-concept study indicates that topical menthol has potential as a novel analgesic therapy for cancer treatment-related neuropathic pain. Improvements in patient-rated measures are supported by changes in objective measures of physical function and sensation. Further systematic evaluation of efficacy is required.
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This case illustrates the benefits of utilizing intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) for preventing injury to sensory/motor pathways of the spinal cord during a cordotomy procedure to relieve pain. Cordotomy has been used effectively in the treatment of visceral pain but comes with a high risk of damaging motor and sensory pathways due to close proximity of lesion. The subject is a 47-year-old female with a pancoast tumor of the left lung, left brachialplexopathy, and severe neuropathic pain syndrome, refractory to medical therapy. ⋯ The surgeon decided to stop the cordotomy at that point. Postoperatively, the patient had no sensory or motor deficit. In this patient, TCeMEPs were used effectively to guide the surgeon in preventing damage to the spinal cord that could lead to motor deficits.
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"Burst ketamine" (BK) is the long-term infusion of subanesthetic ketamine in combination with an opioid. It is used clinically with mixed success to provide long-term pain relief and improve opioid response in patients. BK has not been simulated preclinically, therefore, its effectiveness was investigated in an animal model of neuropathic pain--streptozotocin-induced diabetic neuropathy. ⋯ This is the first preclinical study to use a model of neuropathic pain to demonstrate the utility of the BK procedure for delivering a long-lasting reduction in hyperalgesia and improved antinociceptive responsiveness to opioids.
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To establish a new animal model for the study of neuropathic pain developed by administration of cobra venom to the brachial plexus (BP) lower trunk. ⋯ The cobra venom model can be used as a model to induce neuropathic pain and to enable study of the mechanism and treatment.